(3/8) Unfavourable Urges and Thorns

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Basirhat, 17 December 2020, noon, part 3
Translated from Bengali

বার্দ্ধক্যে এখন, পঞ্চরোগে হত,
কেমনে ভজিব বল’ ।

vardhakye ekhana, pancha-roge hata,
kemane bhajiba bala'

'Now aged, I am afflicted by five-fold diseases. Tell me, how shall I serve?'

(Saranagati, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

'I am old now, ruined by the five material diseases.' We always say that there are things favourable to devotion and things that are unfavourable to devotion. There are also thorns on the path of devotion – thorns and unfavourable things are virtually the same.

Do you know what is unfavourable to devotion? It is explained in a sloka of Srila Rupa Goswami Prabhu:

বাচো বেগং মনসঃ ক্রোধবেগং
জিহ্বাবেগমুদরোপস্থবেগম্ ।
এতান্ বেগান্ যো বিষহেত ধীরঃ
সর্বামপীমাং পৃথিবীং স শিষাৎ ॥

vacho vegam manasah krodha-vegam
jihva-vegam udaropastha-vegam
etan vegan yo visaheta dhirah
sarvam apimam prthivim sa sisyat

'A sober person who can tolerate (1) the urge to speak, (2) the mind's demands, (3) the actions of anger and the urges of the (4) tongue, (5) belly and (6) genitals is qualified to make disciples all over the world.'

(Sri Upadesamrta, 1, Srila Rupa Goswamipad)

(1) Vacho-vegam means the urge of speaking. Do not speak in such a way as to hurt anybody's mind. Vaishnavs can be different – whatever they do, it is not for you to criticise them. Do not speak in such a way as to hurt anybody. If you speak to somebody nicely, you can even ask them to clean stool then. It is necessary to speak nicely, with affection; otherwise, if you say, 'Hey, do this! Do this!' – is this the way to speak to others? Guru Maharaj also taught me this. He told me once, 'You know, in our temple, I can cook puspanna, and after me, ** can cook it. You should ask him to make it. Do you know how to ask him? Do not order him because you are the temple manager, "Hey, listen, Gurudev said you must cook it!" You must tell him, "O Prabhu, I heard you can cook puspanna so well. Gurudev and the Lord love your puspanna very much. If you could make some, it would be very good."' Gurudev taught me how to speak to others. He taught me every single thing...

(2) The next urge unfavourable to devotion is mano-vega, the urge of the mind. Our minds are always going in different directions. It is like our mind has no brakes – it is impossible to steer it properly. It is necessary to press the brake and stop your mind.

(3) The next urge is krodha-vega, anger. We get angry on the spur of the moment. You see something and get angry; something small happens, and you get angry.

(4) Jihva-vega is the urge of the tongue: we want to eat various chewed, sucked, licked and drunk items.

(5) Udhara-vega is the urge of the stomach: tending to eat too much. We have one maharaj who can eat ten kilograms of mangoes after having a meal. He will say, 'You are cheating your stomaches! You eat one–two luchis, but when I eat fourteen luchis, I do not even feel full!'

(6) The last urge is upastha-vega, the urge of the genitals. You understand what this is. It means women mixing with men and men mixing with women. This urge means desiring this kind of association very much. A husband and a wife should have an intercourse only to produce a child; other than that, it is not good to be attracted to each other or desirous of such interaction.

These are the six things unfavourable to devotion. Remember it. The thorns on the path of devotion are the following:

(1) Atyahara: eating too much.

(2) Prayasa: wanting to do what opposes devotion ('I want more! I want money! I want wealth!').

(3) Prajalpa: losing time on nonsense talks: consciously wasting time on idle talks, watching TV, seeing this, that – chant the Holy Name and practise Krishna consciousness instead! Read books! Try to give class. You cannot only listen all your life, you must try to give class (speak Hari-katha), too.

গ্রাম্যকথা না শুনিবে, গ্রাম্যবার্ত্তা না কহিবে ।
ভাল না খাইবে আর ভাল না পরিবে ॥
অমানী মানদ হঞা কৃষ্ণনাম সদা ল'বে ।
ব্রজে রাধাকৃষ্ণ সেবা মানসে করিবে ॥

gramya-katha na sunibe, gramya-varta na kahibe
bhala na khaibe ara bhala na paribe
amani manada hana krsna-nama sada la'be
vraje radha-krsna seva manase karibe

'Do not listen to village talks, do not speak about village news. Do not eat fancy food, do not wear fancy clothes. Do not expect honour to yourself and give all respect to others. Always chant the Holy Name of Krishna and serve Radha-Krishna in your mind.'

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 3.6.236-237)

(4) Niyamagraha: having little eagerness to serve the Lord and more eagerness to do other things. For example, Vaishnavs come to your house, but instead of serving devotees, you are more into taking care of and talking to your own family. When your son-in-law and daughter come to visit you, you become excited and want to do this, this, that, but when devotees and Vaishnavs come, do you feel the same excitement? Do you make the same arrangements? Do you run around and jump up and about doing everything for devotees the way you do it for your son-in-law, daughter and other relatives? You must ask yourself this. 'The guru, Vaishnavs, the Lord are coming! I must cook nicely, I must arrange everything nicely for them! If my daughter and son-in-law are coming, it is not necessary to make so much effort for them.' Does this feeling ever come to your heart, within you?

(5) Janasanga: associating with anybody except pure devotees; you must not associate with such persons.

(6) Laulya: being fickle-minded, having a restless mind.

Remember these things. What are the five diseases? You must remember these things. Everything is written at the end of our calendars – everybody is given calendars, you must read them nicely.

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Size: 31 Mb
Length: 74 min
Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Gurudev's Great Mercy
2) Thwarted At the End
3) Unfavourable Urges and Thorns
4) Five Diseases
5) Live as Servant
6) Pure and Foul Ego
7) Worshipping Prasad
8) Guru-Varga's Hidden Treasure