(2/6) Do You Ever Think of It?

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Basirhat, 15 December 2020, evening, part 2
Translated from Bengali

যস্য প্রসাদাদ্ভগবৎ-প্রসাদো
যস্যাপ্রসাদাৎ ন গতিঃ কুতোঽপি ।
ধ্যায়ং স্তুবংস্তস্য যশস্ত্রিসন্ধ্যং
বন্দে গুরোঃ শ্রীচরণারবিন্দম্ ॥

yasya prasadad bhagavat-prasado
yasyaprasadat na gatih kuto 'pi
dhyayam stuvams tasya yasas tri-sandhyam
vande guroh sri-charanaravindam

'I offer my obeisance unto the lotus feet of Sri Guru, praising and meditating upon his glory at the three junctions of the day. By his grace, one gains the Lord's grace. If he is unsatisfied, one has no shelter anywhere.'

(Sri Sri Gurvastakam)

First, I am offering my full obeisance at the lotus feet of my Divine Master Om Vishnupad Jagad-guru Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj, begging him for his causeless mercy and aspiring to serve him; after that, I am offering my full obeisance to all the assembled guru-varga, all my godbrothers, to all the listeners, to all the motherly lady devotees and all the devotees. I am offering my obeisance at your holy feet and praying for your mercy to this lowly soul.

A bad day is a day without Hari-katha. In our lives, most days are bad days... Have you ever considered it? You are alive in this world for some time, but most of that time is bad days (days without Hari-katha). A cloudy day or any other day is not a bad day. If you hear this katha, if you get this sadhu-sanga every day for one–two hours, you will be so happy. Try to spend your time like that from the time you get up in the morning.

সাধুসঙ্গে কৃষ্ণনামে—এই মাত্র চাই ।

সংসার জিনিতে আর কোন বস্তু নাই ॥

sadhu-sange krsna-nama—ei matra chai
samsara jinite ara kona vastu nai

'I desire only to chant the Name of Krishna in the association of sadhus. There is no other way to conquer this material world.'

(Sri Sri Prema-vivarta, 6.13, Sri Jagadananda Pandit)

A day without Hari-katha is a bad day, and we must always try to reduce the number of such days in our lives. Many of us were not able to come to this line in childhood; because most of us came to the temple, or came to practise Krishna consciousness, in their advanced age, we must not be lazy. As it is, we are already afflicted with the five diseases (vardhakye ekhana, pancha-roge hata; বার্দ্ধক্যে এখন, পঞ্চরোগে হত), so we must not be lazy on top of that. The five diseases are avidya (ignorance), asmita (false identification), raga (misdirected love), dvesa (aversion to anything that goes against one's enjoyment), and abhinivesa (being unable to give up unfavourable habits). But when some young boys or girls come to the mission, many people become envious of them and ridicule them, 'They are wearing Tulasi neckbeads and chant the Holy Name at this young age!' They try to prohibit them to wear kanthi-mala. If you are unable to give a reply to them, then keep quiet – they will say things one day, two days, after that they will stop it. If you can answer back, then do that. Actually, for many people, it is right to come to this path at an early age. As soon as you get some intelligence to understand the purpose of this life, you must come to practise Krishna consciousness, even if you are a child.

The boys that have come with me have been practising Krishna consciousness since the time they were in their mothers' wombs. Their parents are devotees. The Maharaj that has come with us is a disciple of Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaj. He took sannyas from Srila Swami Maharaj. He left sannyas, but after that he came again to our Gurudev, and he took sannyas again from me. Many devotees came from ISKCON and took shelter of Gurudev (became Gurudev's disciples). Gurudev seated me on his chair, that is why they respect me as the guru. Although they are my godbrothers by relationship, they are actually senior to me because they had come to the Math a very long time ago. [To a Western devotee] What year did you come to Krishna consciousness?

Devotee: 1983.

He came to the mission the same year as Sripad Bhakti Prapanna Tirtha Maharaj. I came in 1992 or 1993, ten years later. Sripad Sajjan Maharaj, which year did you take initiation?

Sripad Sajjan Maharaj: 1975.

1975! He took initiation when Srila Swami Maharaj went abroad. How senior they are! But they listen to what I say and follow me...

They practise Krishna consciousness like that, but our country's people are born, grow up and want to get married... They can do that, but they must try to practise Krishna consciousness. How many people want to practise Krishna consciousness? In how many people's houses, they want their children to become vegetarian? 'My son will be vegetarian, then we can all be vegetarian and practise Krishna consciousness.' How many people think like that? How many fathers and mothers will say this? In my own family, they never said like that. They are all old now, but even in their old age, they eat fish and meat. So unfortunate.

This is down to sukriti. As the result of accumulated sukriti, we are born in India. Some are also born abroad, but Gurudev and Srila Swami Maharaj went there, too. Srila Swami Maharaj made a channel, and Gurudev went through that channel and sowed the seeds, watering it with sravan and kirtan. Those seeds have sprouted and become trees now, and we can see the fruits of those trees. The water that is necessary for the seeds to grow is sravan and kirtan. We must always practise it. The more you practise, the more you advance. It is the same as at school: the more you study, the easier it is for you to pass the exam. It is necessary to read scriptures more, it is necessary to hear Hari-katha more. There are so many lectures of Gurudev – you can find many things in facebook, youtube. There are many of my lectures online also, even more than Gurudev's. You must listen and try to understand what Gurudev says. Do not use your mobile phones for nonsense (for watching some videos and cricket!). You must use your mobile phones to see what lecture Gurudev is giving. There are lectures posted every single day at my website. Listen to them. You can listen to these lectures every day.

It is not possible for everyone, and not even necessary, to stay always with Gurudev. Does sadhu-sanga mean eating from the same plate with the sadhu or to sleep on the same bed as the sadhu? Does it mean sitting and relaxed on top of a sadhu? This is not sadhu-sanga. Mosquitos also sit relaxing on top of a sadhu, but they only bite and suck his blood. There are also some people sitting near sadhus who will only see how much money people give, how much money western devotees bring and from which countries money comes. The eyes of those who see such things always go in that direction. They become attached to material things and lose their devotional mood. 'How will I get money? How can I get a car? How can I get a house? How can I maintain my family?' They always think about these things. Guru Maharaj said that you can already have your one leg in Vaikuntha and one leg outside, but that leg that is in Vaikuntha can come out of there and fall into the material world; and if your fortune is good, your second leg can go to Vaikuntha too. I have brought you to the door, but you are the one who must do the rest.

When I went to a diabetes doctor, he told me that diabetes is like a chair with four legs: one leg is the doctor, but the rest of the legs are you. So, when you take initiation from Gurudev, Gurudev is one leg. If you take initiation and go away after that, forgetting everything, your cannot succeed like that. If you practise sravan and kirtan only when Gurudev comes to give class, and when you go back home, you relax and sleep.

নিদ্রালস্য-হত, সুকার্য্যে বিরত,
অকার্য্যে উদ্যোগী আমি ।
প্রতিষ্ঠা লাগিয়া, শাঠ্য আচরণ,
লোভহত সদা কামী ॥

nidralasya hata, sukarye virata,
akarye udyogi ami

'Ruined by laziness and sleep, I am averse to doing anything good and eager to do nothing.'

(Saranagati, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

'Nidralasya' means sleep (nidra) and laziness (alasya). In my childhood, there was a separate room for studying with a table and a chair, without a bed, because if I studied on a bed, I would fall asleep. So, I would sit on a chair and study at a desk. So, do sleep all the time and do not be lazy. 'Sukarye virata, akarye udyogi ami' means that we do not like to do what is good, we only do what is bad. Everything except for Krishna-katha and Krishna-seva, everything is akarya, bad works. We mostly do what is bad, like donkeys.

গর্দ্দভের মত আমি করি পরিশ্রম ।
কার লাগি' এত করি না ঘুচিল ভ্রম ॥

gardabhera mata ami kari parisrama
kara lagi' eta kari, na ghuchila bhrama

'I toil laboriously like a donkey. For whom am I doing this? Still my illusion has not been dispelled.'

(Sri Kalyan-kalpataru, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

Do you ever think about this?

Have you ever seen a donkey? I have seen it abroad also, we have a donkey at our temple in Brazil. Sripad Trivikram Maharaj takes it to the market: he does the shopping and loads everything onto the donkey. They buy things at the market and offer bhoga to the Deities, and they say, 'Let the donkey do some service to the Lord, too.' Other than that, the donkey lives under some tree and eats like a cow (cows and donkeys eat the same things). Donkeys, or mules, only know to carry things, they do not understand any scriptures. Like donkeys, we also only know how to live material life – we do not understand the real meaning of life. We do not know, do not understand that we have got this life to practise Krishna consciousness. We are unfortunate.

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Size: 33 Mb
Length: 78 min
Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Do Not Overstep Your Limit
2) Do You Ever Think of It?
3) Glories of Great Souls
4) Do Not Deflect
5) Preserving Purity
6) Appreciate Prasad-Seva