Keep Yourself Busy With Service

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Kolkata, 20 December 2020, part 3

Question: Last week you spoke about criticising devotees, about not being drain inspectors. I was thinking about it and want to ask you how to behave in a situation when I see other devotees treat their godbrothers or godsisters, other devotees, in a bad way?

If somebody is criticising others, they as it is will get the result for that ('as you sow so you reap'). If somebody criticises others, they can do as they like, but we will neither do that, nor support that.

Devotee: If I see such a situation, should I speak up or should I not say anything?

It is better not to say anything. If somebody is criticising you, then you must tolerate it, and if somebody is criticising your godbrother, godsister, your guru-varga, then you can try to teach the person—you can say gently, "Please do not do this. It is not good." You can try to explain to them that it is not good to do this. If somebody criticises your guru-varga, who are all liberated souls (mukta-purush) and who are all our gurus, then you can tell the person not to do that, "Please stop it, do not do that. It is not good for your spiritual life! Do not speak bad about others."

Somebody may have made a mistake, it may be the truth, and you tell about it to somebody else, but Gurudev says that even in this case it is not necessary to say anything. What you are saying about somebody may be true, but it is not necessary to speak about it because if you search for faults in somebody else, that fault will come to you as a reaction. Do not criticise others.

So, you can explain all these things to those who speak bad about others.

Srila Prabhupad also gave an example. Suppose you have seen somebody steal some bhoga or prasadam from the kitchen before it was offered. You may have seen it, but it is not necessary to broadcast these things. This is called gramya-katha (village talks) and prajalpa (idle talks). You have seen something and you think it is your duty to go about telling this, this, this, making a whole big story out of it—this is not good for any devotee. Do you understand what I am saying?

Actually, devotees are always busy with their service, when will they get time for all this? It is not necessary to pass your time in this way—do not waste your time on others' faults. We must always see and search our own fault—we should not search others' faults.

Devotee: So, when I see somebody is ill-treating other devotees, I should speak up against that?

You can say, "Didi/Prabhu, it is not good for you. You have some power now, that is why you are treating them like this, but Krishna can remove your power and then you will also be treated by others in this way."

[Addressing another devotee.] Dandavat, Prabhu. I see you have a big moustache—can you not remove it? Does the government give you a tax break for your moustache? Are there some rules and regulations at your workplace that you have to keep that moustache?

Devotee: Yes, it is because of my identity card. My photo in the identity card is with the moustache, so I have to keep it.

You can change your photo or change your ID card! It is not good to keep a moustache. When you drink water, it touches your moustache and it is not good. [On another occasion, His Divine Grace said, "The scriptures say that if your moustache touches the water that you are drinking, then you are taking urine."] Try to remove it. You look like Jagai and Madhai with this moustache. The only thing is that Jagai and Madhai are very powerful—Jagai and Madhai have so much Vaishnav qualities. They have got service from Mahaprabhu! They would clean the Ganges—people passed stool on the bank of the Ganges, and they would clean it. They got this service and mercy from Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, they are very great Vaishnavs.

Are there any other questions?

Question (from a new person from Caracas): How can I cultivate a relationship with you?

You can listen to Hari-katha, Krishna-katha, read my books, read Gurudev's books. It is all related. Read Srila Sridhar Maharaj's books, Gurudev's books, my books. This is how more and more faith will come to you. When you are ready to receive initiation (when you are ready to follow all the rules and regulations), I can give it to you.

The devotees at Parama Karuna who live there follow Krishna consciousness and all rules and regulations—you can take their association, it will be good for you, and I will also be very happy if you serve the devotees there. Try to serve the mission of Parama Karuna Nitai Gaurachandra there. Serve the Deities and the devotees there, that is my happiness, and if you want to receive initiation, I am always at your service, I am ready to give initiation to you. It is not a problem.

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