(3/5) Outer and Inner Surrender

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Nrisingha Palli, 27 November 2020, part 3
Translated from Bengali

This body is meant for the service of the Lord. We have got this nice human body that is liked even by the Lord Himself:

কৃষ্ণের যতেক খেলা, সর্ব্বোত্তম নরলীলা,
নরবপু তাহার স্বরূপ ।

krsnera yateka khela, sarvvottama nara-lila,
nara-vapu tahara svarupa

'Among all pastimes of Lord Krishna, His highest form is that of a human being. This human body is His original eternal divine form.'

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 2.21.101)

What is the purpose of this human birth? This human birth is meant for the service of the Lord. You must always remember this. At the same time, we cannot give anything to the Lord (even if we give much money, it is nothing for the Lord), but we can serve our gurudev. This service to our guru must be eternal, constant. We must not try to cheat or bunk off service. This line is like a transcendental university, where the teachers are Sukadev, Vyasadev and other great personalities. We if we can get something from the storehouse of their knowledge, we can get the highest things, the highest conception. This highest conception is that we must submit all our senses at the holy lotus feet of Sri Krishna. We have five karmendriya (feet, hands, rectum, genitals, mouth), five jnanendriya (eyes, ears, nose, tongue, skin), mind, intelligence, ego. Our main purpose in life is to be able to submit all these senses, submit everything that is good or bad within us, at the holy feet of our gurudev and the Lord. Our duty is to submit ourselves at the holy feet of the Lord. We must never forget this. We must always think about it.

কৃষ্ণ ভুলি' সেই জীব অনাদি-বহির্ম্মুখ ।
অতএব মায়া তারে দেয় সংসারাদি-দুঃখ ॥

krsna bhuli' sei jiva anadi-bahirmukha
ataeva maya tare deya samsaradi-duhkha

'Forgetting Krishna, the soul turned towards the external illusory world in primaeval times. As the result, illusion (Maya) gives such a soul various material miseries.'

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 2.20.117)

Maya makes us her slave – she makes us work for her and suffer. But if somehow, by some fortune, we can find a bona fide guru and take shelter at his feet, if we can live following his order and instructions, then we can progress in the line of Krishna consciousness. The main thing is that we must find a bona fide guru. This it the key to our spiritual benefit. Therefore, we must search for a genuine spiritual master. And when we find him, we must listen to his Hari-katha and live following his instruction.

As I said, this line is like a transcendental university. We must not cheat here. The studying process here is sravan (hearing), kirtan (chanting, practising), service to the Lord. Any service counts. Even if it is washing dishes, cooking, working in the goshala, cleaning the drain, cleaning the nat-mandir, taking care of the garden. Everything must be related to the service of the Lord. If we can engage ourselves in this way, we will get supreme benefit – we can become members of Krishna's family. Eating, sleeping, fearing, material families – this is all for your sense-pleasure. We always think, 'I want to eat nice things', 'I want to sleep on a nice bed', 'I want to dress well', 'I want to live a nice life', but Mahaprabhu told Raghunath Das Goswami:

মর্কট-বৈরাগ্য না কর লোক দেখাঞা ।
যথাযোগ্য বিষয় ভুঞ্জ' অনাসক্ত হঞা ॥

markata-vairagya na kara loka dekhana
yatha-yogya visaya bhunja' anasakta hana

'Do not show your false renunciation to impress people. Use whatever material things you require, but without attachment.'

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 2.16.238)

Do not behave like a monkey (markata). You put on tilaks, wear the beads, but inside you have other desires, other things. That is why Mahaprabhu says that you should not show monkey renunciation (fake renunciation). Monkeys live naked, but they are always greedy to spoil fruit and vegetables. They have material desires. If you go to Vrindavan wearing glasses, they will take your glasses away, and if you want to get them back, you have to give them biscuits. Guru Maharaj said that these monkeys are fallen babajis. Such babajis live without clothes, showing their renunciation to others, but they are always eager to take people's money. They beg showing much renunciation, and when they get some alms, they go to their nice homes and families. This is what is called monkey renunciation. They say, 'I do not need anything', 'I do not need money', but they have desires inside them. If you come for the Ganga-sagar Mela, you will see many businessmen there, such as naga-sannyasis, who live without any clothes like monkeys, but even though they show so much renunciation, they still bring their bellies with them. They cannot live without eating, can they? Even if they go to live in a cave in the mountains, do they leave their stomaches behind? They do not. They leave everything, but they still take their stomaches with them. To feed their stomaches, they still have to go begging. They show to people that they are great sadhus, they sit without clothes in the winter, but they have desires inside them.

মর্কট-বৈরাগ্য না কর লোক দেখাঞা ।
যথাযোগ্য বিষয় ভুঞ্জ' অনাসক্ত হঞা ॥

markata-vairagya na kara loka dekhana
yatha-yogya visaya bhunja' anasakta hana

'Do not show your false renunciation to impress people. Use whatever material things you require, but without attachment.'

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 2.16.238)

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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