(1/5) Beyond Material Bondage

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Basirhat, 16 December 2020, noon, part 1
Translated from Bengali

If everyone could come to the temple, it would be good, but you are living in material bondage. That is why, whether you are staying in a house or in a forest, whatever your situation is, you can practise Krishna consciousness.

You say that you have built this house (or your father has built it), but you are not the master. We always tell everyone that you must make your house Krishna-centred. Think about it, and you will see the difference. You are living in this world, and you may think that you are not committing any sins, but I know that we sin every day – to survive, we kill millions of living entities every day. Even being vegetarian is also sinful. For example, vegetarians eat rice, roti – they have to cut wheat, paddy, spinach, and other things; therefore, they also commit sins. When we drink water or even breathe, we kill so many living entities. We kill so many insects when we walk on the street. What is the solution to all these sins? Srimad Bhagavatam says that if we can make our lives Krishna-centred, we can become relived from all sins.

What does it mean to make your life Krishna-centered? For example, you run a business, go to work, do farming or anything else as part of your family life – you can do it for Krishna, for the Supreme Lord. When devotees live in a house, they wake up early in the morning, offer arati to the Lord, then cook something in the morning (mudi, subji, some vegetables with rotis, or anything else that they take in the morning – if somebody takes rice in the morning, they can cook rice), offer bhog to the Lord and take prasad. If you live in this way, then whatever sin you commit by using rice and other ingredients will be removed from you.

The Lord says, 'Everything that is created in this world is created for My enjoyment.' Because you have ego, you think, 'This is my house', 'This is my room', 'This is my land', 'This is my property'. But who does everything and who is made to do everything? Do you have any power? If the Lord does not make you move, you cannot do anything – you cannot even move. I am talking now at this programme, but if it is the Lord's wish, I can also be taken to the cremation ghat this very second. There is no guarantee. This life is temporary (jivana anitya) and full of danger (tahe nana-vidha vipada-bhara):

জীবন অনিত্য জানহ সার
তাহে নানাবিধ বিপদ-ভার ।
নামাশ্রয় করি' যতনে তুমি
থাকহ আপন কাজে ॥

jivana anitya janaha sara
tahe nana-vidha vipada-bhara
namasraya kari' yatane tumi
thakaha apana kaje

'Know that the main thing is that life is temporary and filled with all sorts of danger. Continue your life trying your best to take shelter of the Name.'

(Sri Gitavali, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

Take shelter of the Holy Name and carry on your life. It is necessary to take shelter of the Holy Name. That is why Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur says, 'Grhe thako, vane thako, sada Hari bole dako (গৃহে থাক, বনে থাক সদা 'হরি' বলে ডাক), whether you stay in a house or in a forest, always call out the Holy Name.'

You say, 'This house is mine', 'I have made this house', but think about yourself – will you be able to stay in this house your whole life? One day, when your soul leaves this body, the body will be quickly taken away from this house because it will start stinking. So, you will have to leave this world.

When we got this human body (when we were in our mother's womb), we made a promise to the Lord. You can see that when a child is born, it begins to smile and laugh after a few months. Why does it do it? It gets the darshan of the Lord in the mother's womb. When it is just born, it cannot distinguish between right and wrong, and it has not committed any sins or amassed piety yet (nobody murders or steals in their mother's womb – such things are done later). So, when the child is born in this clean-slate position, the Lord comes to it. It does not happen to everybody: 'Sad-anga saranagati haibe yanhara tanhara prarthana sune sri-nanda-kumara (ষড়ঙ্গ শরণাগতি হইবে যাঁহার তাঁহার প্রার্থনা শুনে শ্রীনন্দকুমার) – Lord Krishna hears the prayers of those who surrender in six ways.' When the child sees the Lord, it feels very happy and starts smiling and laughing. Why do some children cry a lot when they are born? Because Maya attacks them.

We were chanting the kirtan just now: 'Maya-jale baddha ha'ye achha michhe kaja la'ye (মায়াজালে বদ্ধ হ'য়ে, আছ মিছে কাজ ল'য়ে). Bound in Maya's net, you work in vain.'

মায়াজালে বদ্ধ হ'য়ে, আছ মিছে কাজ ল'য়ে ।
এখনও চেতন পেয়ে, রাধামাধব-নাম বল রে ॥

maya-jale baddha ha'ye achha michhe kaja la'ye
ekhan-o chetana peye radha-madhav-nam bala re

'Bound in Maya's net, you work in vain. While you are still conscious, chant the Name of Radha-Madhav!'

(Sri Gitavali, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

You have got some consciousness now, so always chant the Names of Radha-Madhav!

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Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Beyond Material Bondage
2) Missing the Substance
3) Enthrone the Lord in Your Home
4) 'I Want Your Love'
5) Save Yourself