(2/11) Die to Live or Live to Die?

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Uluberia, 20 December 2020, noon, part 2
Translated from Bengali

I have heard that you have all been doing parikramas in the area for the past month, and today too. What does a parikrama mean? Walking down the street? No. You sing,

জীব জাগ, জীব জাগ, গোরাচাঁদ বলে ।
কত নিদ্রা যাও মায়া-পিশাচীর কোলে ॥

jiva jago, jiva jago, gorachanda bale
kata nidra yao maya-pisachira kole

'Sri Gorachand says, "Wake up, souls! Wake up! How much longer will you sleep in the lap of the witch Maya?"'

(Sri Gitavali, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

'How long will you sleep in the lap of this Witch Maya? Wake up now! Practise Krishna consciousness! Wake up, soul! Worship Krishna! There is no time left!'

উঠরে উঠরে ভাই আর ত সময় নাই
'কৃষ্ণ ভজ' বলে উচ্চৈঃস্বরে

uthare uthare bhai ara ta samaya nai
'krsna bhaja' bale uchchaihsvare

'Wake up, wake up, brother! There is no time! "Worship Krishna!" they call out loudly.'

(Acharya Vandana)

Why is it said that we have no time? Because we can leave this body and this world at any moment. Thousands and millions of living entities are leaving their bodies hour after hour, minute after minute, second after second. Listen to what I am saying attentively. We have been averse to Lord Krishna from time immemorial. We have forgotten the Lord and are burning in the agony of material life. We keep getting and leaving bodies, and we will have to leave this body, too. We can leave at any moment. But the question is where you will go after you leave this body? Where were you? Where are you? You must think about it. 'Kothay chilam hethay elam kothay yabo bhavi nay (কোথায় ছিলাম হেথায় এলাম কোথায় যাব ভাবি নাই): I do not know where I was, where I came and where I will go.' We must always remember this. We are talking now, but there is no guarantee that even this very moment we do not leave this body – that this body will not be taken to the Ganges and burnt.

দিন যায় মিছা কাজে নিশা নিদ্রাবশে ।
নাহি ভাবি মরণ নিকটে আছে বসে ॥

dina yaya michha kaje, nisa nidra-vase
nahi bhavi marana nikate achhe vase

'My days pass in useless work and nights are wasted on sleep. It never occurs to me that there is death sitting and waiting right next to me.'

(Sri Kalyan-kalpataru, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

We never think that our death is right next to us. Pariksit Maharaj got a seven-day notice, Khatvanga Maharaj got a forty-eight-minute notice – they got this notice and knew that they would have to die in seven days or forty-eight minutes; but we have not been able to become as fortunate as they are, so we do not know whether we will die or not in seven seconds, seven minutes or seven hours. There is no guarantee how much lifetime you will get – we can leave at any moment.

'Jivana anitya janaha sara tahe nana-vidha vipada-bhara (জীবন অনিত্য জানহ সার তাহে নানাবিধ বিপদ-ভার): understand the essence that this life is not eternal and is filled with various danger.' This life is not eternal, so we will have to leave this world.

[Clamour] Why are you speaking so much? Listen to me please. I am requesting you so much, with all humility, with folded palms. Please stop speaking. Dinera madhye abala-tabala kata pachala parite para, tara madhye ki eka-bara govinda bolate nara! (দিনের মধ্যে আবল-তাবল কত পচাল পাড়িতে পার, তার মধ্যে কি একবার গোবিন্দ বলতে নার)—How many idle talks we have during the day, how much we talk during the day! We talk all sorts of nonsense and cannot even one time take the Name of Govinda!

You have got this mouth only to eat and speak. So, yes, you can speak, but what should you speak about? About Krishna, not about nonsense. When this body goes away and you get birth in some other body (a cow's, goat's, sheep's, a dog's or cat's body), what will you do then? We have actually already gone through all these births before, but we have very fortunately (as the result of much sukriti) got a human birth now. That is why it is said:

দুর্ল্লভ মানব জন্ম লভিয়া সংসারে ।
কৃষ্ণ না ভজিনু দুঃখ কহিব কাহারে ॥

durlabha manava-janma labhiya samsare
krsna na bhajinu—duhkha kahiba kahare?

'I have got a very rare human life in this world, but I have not worshipped Lord Krishna. Whom will I tell about my misery?'

(Sri Kalyan-kalpataru, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

We have got this rare human birth, but we have not been able to practise Krishna consciousness! Whom will I tell about this sadness? This is my only sadness that I have not been able to practise Krishna consciousness (to serve and worship) the Lord). It is not so easy to become a devotee of Krishna! It is not so easy to become a Vaishnav.

To become a devotee, you must sacrifice something, you must give up something. Life is not only for eating and sleeping. Nobody prohibits you to eat, but do live to eat or do you eat to live? Because we must stay alive, we must eat something, but we do not live to eat. Param Guru Maharaj said, 'Die to live.' Do we live to die or do we die to live? We are alive now, and we will have to die. We do not live to die.

We must think about these things...

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Length: 97 min
Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Take Advantage of This Chance
2) Die to Live or Live to Die?
3) Immerse Yourself in Hari-Kirtan
4) Attachment to Sri Guru
5) Highest Gift, Highest Pastimes
6) Mahaprabhu's Teachings
7) Maintained by the Lord
8) Life beyond Ego
9) Control Six Urges
10) Subjugate Six Faults
11) Six Good Qualities