Stay In Gurudev's Heart

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Kolkata, 6 December 2020, part 5

I remember once a devotee came to the Math with his family. He usually came for Srila Sridhar Maharaj's festival or Gaura Purnima. I remember clearly that one day when he was going back to his country, he came to see Gurudev and to give him some pranami (donation). He had already stayed at the Math for perhaps ten-fifteen days, during which he had been to Mayapur, he had gone here, there, he had visited so many places and spent much money also. So, that day, he finally came to Gurudev to give him some money that remained. I was sitting at Gurudev's veranda at that time, and there were perhaps another one-two devotees there. When that devotee came to say goodbye to Gurudev before leaving (his taxi was already downstairs, and all the luggage was in the car). Gurudev told that time (in Bengali), "You see? There are three kinds of devotees, and this is one of the kinds." (1) Somebody comes to the temple, the secretary gives them a room, arranges accommodation, prasadam, nourishment, etc., and they do not get any time to meet with Gurudev—only when they are leaving, they come to him, pay obeisance, say goodbye, and give some money that is left after all their expenses. (That devotee gave Gurudev Indian rupees, not dollars, and not only that—he gave ten rupee notes so that the bundle looked big. If you give one thousand rupees in ten rupee banknotes, it will be a big bundle, and if you give five thousand rupees, it will be a big packet full of money. In this way some like to show that they give so much money to Gurudev.) (2) Another kind of devotees are those who come to the Math, come to see Gurudev, come to his class, who give some pranami and also keep some money for their own expenses during the parikrama, for their family expenses if they come with their family, and so on. This is second-class devotees. (3) And the third type of devotees is very rare. These are the devotees who come from abroad and come directly to Gurudev in the same clothes that they wore for travelling—they come straight to Gurudev, open their bags, give so many gifts, money, etc. to their Gurudev. They give everything to Gurudev and do not keep even one rupee for their own expenses. One time, a devotee came to Gurudev, and Gurudev said, "Oh, I understand... You have given everything to me, and now you want to go to Kolkata, but you have no money (not even twenty rupees) to buy the ticket." Then, Gurudev told me, "Vinod, give him twenty rupees to buy the ticket." This is another kind of devotees. This is what Gurudev said. You were asking about different classes of devotees, and I remembered what Gurudev said also about three kinds of devotees.

OK, I would like to finish for today. I have many things to do tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow I am going again out for preaching for three-four days. There is also a preaching programme next Sunday, but I will try to connect with you all.

[Somebody mentions the vaccine and opportunity to travel abroad.] Vaccine! We need a proper vaccine from our Gurudev. That is the proper vaccine. What is this material vaccine? I have seen in the news today that some minister had taken this material vaccine fifteen days ago, and now he is attacked by coronavirus. So, we need a proper vaccine from Gurudev, Guru Maharaj, Prabhupad. If the Lord gives us a proper vaccine, that will be efficient. If it is Krishna's will and I am of some use to the Lord and to my Guru, then they will keep me in this world, otherwise they will take me away. I do not mind it either way—I do not think about life, death, etc. I was born one day, and one day I have to die, no one can stop it. It is not in my hands, it is in the hands of the Lord. Anyhow, we are alive in this world now, and we are suffering from so many diseases, we are always suffering from so many elements, so we must always practise Krishna consciousness—we must always remember our Guru and Guru-varga, we must always remember our Gurudev, Guru Maharaj, Prabhupad, as well as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. That is our wish, that is our main desire.

You must try to stay in Gurudev's heart. This is the main thing. Try to stay in Gurudev's heart through your service. Gurudev always keeps you in his heart, but you must try to stay there through your good behaviour and good practice. In this situation, I often remember Gurudev's words and I remember some devotees who have left—there is no trace, no news about them, and their entire generation is also not activated now in the service to their Guru. That is why, what Gurudev said is very correct—I remember some things Gurudev said and I feel his words are very powerful. Anyway, try to stay in Gurudev's heart through your love and affection. It is necessary, it is the main thing in our life.

I am again asking you all for forgiveness—sometimes my words are hard, my behaviour is always not good... I always think that I am very guilty, I am not a perfect person, but I always want to correct and purify myself through your good association. Thank you so much, it was very nice to see you all.

Jay Srila Guru Maharaj ki jay

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