(2/5) Three Pillars of Spiritual Life

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Nrisingha Palli, 27 November 2020, part 2
Translated from Bengali

There are three things that we must remember. Mercy, or compassion, to other souls (jive daya). Taste for the Holy Name (Name ruchi). And service to Vaishnavs (vaisnava-seva). 'Jive daya' means bringing to this path people who have turned away from the Lord – it is necessary to speak to them, to tell them Hari-katha, give them prasad. 'Name ruchi' means always chanting kirtan, chanting and chanting, singing and singing. And vaisnava-seva means serving devotees.

When I went to the temple of Lord Nrisinghadev today, I met one man who is my biggest enemy, but he came and paid obeisance to me. I spoke to him nicely and told him to come with me to the temple. He became shy and refused. I asked him where he was going, he said he was going to Mayapur. I offered to give him a lift. He refused, humbly.

জীবে দয়া, নামে রুচি, বৈষ্ণব সেবা ।
ইহা বহি সনাতন নাহি আর ধর্ম্ম ॥

jive daya name ruchi vaisnava seva
iha bahi sanatana nahi ara dharma

'Be merciful to the souls, chant the Holy Name, and serve the Vaishnavs. Sanatan, besides this, there is no other religion.'

We must serve devotees. Service to devotees (vaisnava-seva) does not mean massaging their feet – it means talking to devotees nicely, giving them prasad. 'Jive daya' means bringing souls to this path. If we can speak Hari-katha to others and bring them to this path, the Lord will be pleased. But if we try to serve the Lord without serving devotees, we will be serving Maya.

In this world, everybody is serving maya. People run behind money, wealth, houses, cars. But travelling through 84,000,000 births, we have got this human birth here in India. We must search for the meaning of this life.

ভারত-ভূমিতে হৈল মনুষ্য-জন্ম যার ।
জন্ম সার্থক করি' কর পর-উপকার ॥

bharata-bhumite haila manusya janma yara
janma sarthaka kari' kara para-upakara

'One who has taken birth as a human being in the land of India should take advantage of this birth by bringing benefit to others.'

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 1.9.41)

What does it mean to bring benefit to others? Does it mean giving money and things to others? No. Bringing benefit means bringing souls to this path – if you can bring somebody to this path, you will do the best favour to them because once a person comes to this path, all their desires will be gone. Mahaprabhu made such a nice arrangement for this Kali-yuga. In Satya-yuga, people used to meditate for thousands and thousands of years, famishing their bodies to almost nothing. But in Kali-yuga, Mahaprabhu only asks us to fast on ekadasi, and Srila Prabhupad made it even easier. Our Param Guru Maharaj wrote this sloka about Srila Prabhupad:

নিখিল-ভুবন-মায়া-ছিন্নবিচ্ছিন্নকর্ত্রী
বিবুধবহুল-মৃগ্যা-মুক্তি-মোহান্ত-দাত্রী ।
শিথিলিত-বিধি-রাগারাধ্য-রাধেশ-ধানী
বিলসতু হৃদি নিত্যং ভক্তিসিদ্ধান্ত-বাণী ॥

nikhila-bhuvana-maya-chhinnavichchhinna-kartri
vibudhabahula-mrgya-mukti-mohanta-datri
sithilita-vidhi-raga-radhya-radhesa-dhani
vilasatu hrdi nityam bhakti-siddhanta-vani

'He slashed to shreds the illusion of the whole material universe, putting a stop to scholarly speculations and conceptions of liberation; he eased the strict rules and regulations, bestowing the conception of natural loving worship of the Divine Love—may the devotional teachings of this Sri Bhaktisiddhanta play eternally in your heart.'

(Srila B.R. Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj)

Srila Prabhupad eased strict rules and regulations. In Kali-yuga, people are so restless that they cannot live without food (anna-gata prana, অন্নগত প্রাণ) – if people do not eat (especially rice, anna, অন্ন), they cannot manage. So, Srila Prabhupad eased the rule, 'You do not need to fast the whole day without even water on ekadasi. It is too hard for you. Fast on ekadasi till midday and then take anukalpa prasad.' We can take some potato subji, nuts, sago, fruit, curd, milk. Srila Prabhupad made it very easy for us, but we still think about our health and body. People say, 'Oh, I do not like fruit', 'If I do not eat rice, I will die.' There are also exceptions to fasting – if your guru gives you some prasad, you can take it. If your doctor prescribes you some medicine, you can take it. If you have some health issues and have to take medication or cannot fast, you can take some anukalpa prasad in the morning also. I have diabetes, so I take some potato subji in the morning before going out not to fall sick.

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Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Kirtan – Highest Practice
2) Three Pillars of Spiritual Life
3) Outer and Inner Surrender
4) Drowning in Maya
5) Still Waters Run Deep