Beyond Enshrouded Life

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Two days before Srila B.S. Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj's Vyasa Puja
Nrisingha Palli, 30 December 2020, evening, part 2

It is necessary to make some sacrifice in your life. Gurudev always said me, "If you think about the Lord, the Lord will think about you and take care of you." If you always think about yourself, why will the Lord think about you? He will say, "I do not have to think about you, you can take care of yourself!"

You are always running behind food, clothes, money, wealth, etc. Think about it. When I came to the temple and was a brahmachari, I slept on a simple bed and did not even think about anything. I came to the room only to use the bathroom, take bath, and sleep. Now people come and want comfort in their rooms, but it is necessary to make some sacrifice in your life. People do not think, "People out there sleep on the street, but I have been given a room," such mood does not come. Very few have service mood. I have never in my life asked Gurudev for anything; I never asked Gurudev even for a piece of soup. I served others, I served the temple: Gurudev's devotees come and I serve them, this is my happiness, and Gurudev always took care of everything. He provided whatever was needed—oil, soap, etc. These days, brahmacharis always need so many things and fight with each other, but I have never asked for anything, and Gurudev always arranged everything so nicely. I always think about serving devotees, serving Gurudev. Every time it came to Gurudev's appearance day, I did everything heart and soul, and Gurudev was very pleased. This is why he gave me this responsibility in the end [to run the mission]. I always thought and still always think about how I can please my Guru. Many think, "Oh, Gurudev is not here," and they do not think it is necessary to arrange any worship. It means that they have not got any devotion to Gurudev or any knowledge of the relationship with Gurudev.

"Sambandha janiya bhajite bhajite abhimana hau dura: if we practise Krishna consciousness with proper decorum (understanding the relationship), then our ego will be removed." If you worship understanding the relationship, then your ego will go away, but the problem is that we do not have this knowledge of the relationship... Even now, when Gurudev has left, he can still see everything, he can know everything... You can see so many people are coming even now—all rooms are full, and we are making a new four-storey building. When the lockdown started, the workers worked secretly, and by and by the building got completed. Now devotees can stay here comfortably. I serve devotees, and the Lord is doing everything for me. I do not lack anything. That is why, the Lord Himself says, "If you serve My devotees, I will serve you—I will always be there behind you (I will always have your back)."

We are sitting here in front of Prahlad Maharaj. You can remember his life. We have been on a tour to South India and visited the places of his pastimes. Having slain Hiranyakasipu, Lord Nrisinghadev came here, to Nrisingha Palli, to wash His hands and take rest. If you went with me that time, you saw Hiranyakasipu's house. When Hiranyakasipu hit one of the pillars of his house, the pillar cracked (that pillar was three-four kilometres long!!) and Nrisinghadev appeared from it. We saw that pillar when we went on the tour. We saw the school where Prahlad Maharaj studied. Not only that, there is a place there where Lord Nrisinghadev tore Hiranyakasipu's chest apart with His claws—there is red (blood-coloured) water flowing in that place to this day! Can you imagine what kind of pastimes the Lord manifests! It happened in Satya-yuga—how many years, thousands and thousands of years, have passed since then, but the Lord's pastimes are still going on.

So, practise Krishna consciousness nicely. Many do not want to practise Krishna consciousness because of all kinds of circumstances, but how many more days you are going to live like that?

সংসার সংসার ক'রে মিছে গেল কাল ।
লাভ না হইল কিছু ঘটিল জঞ্জাল ॥
কিসের সংসার এই, ছায়াবাজী প্রায় ।
ইহাতে মমতা করি' বৃথা দিন যায় ॥

'samsara' 'samsara' ka're michhe gela kala
labha na ha-ila kichhu ghatila janjala
kisera samsara ei, chhayabaji praya
ihate mamata kari' vrtha dina yaya

"Time has passed in the affairs of material household life, and I have got nothing—only became burdened... As if spellbound, I was attracted to this pointless material life, and being so much engrossed into it I pass my days in vain."

(Kalyan-kalpataru, 3.2.4)

When I was coming here today, I told my driver, "Brother, do you not understand it? You are sleeping till eight but moment after moment, hour after hour, day after day, year after year, our time is passing. Our life is going away..."

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

dina jaya michha kaje nisa nidra-base
nahi bhavi marana nikate achhe base

My days are passed in useless work and nights are wasted on sleeping. It never occurs to me that there is death sitting next to me.

(Kalyan-kalpataru, 3.2.4)

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

"Understand the essence: life is temporary and filled with all sorts of adversity. Carefully taking shelter of the Name, engage in your work."

(Gitavali, Arunodaya kirtan, 1.3, by Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur)

Continue your work. What is your work? Serving the Lord. You are living your material life (living in the family), but you must practise Krishna consciousness. We have not come to this world to become brick-layers and carpenters (to run behind money and wealth). What have we come to this world for? We are only Mahaprabhu's messengers. Messengers go everywhere delivering letters; in the same, our Guru-varga, Vaishnavs go house to house distributing the nectar of the holy talks about the Lord (Hari-kathamrita).

মঠের বৈষ্ণবগণ করে সদা বিতরণ
হরিগুণ-কথামৃত ভবে ॥

mathera vaisnava-gana kare sada vitarana
hari-guna-kathamrta bhave

"The Vaishnav residents of these temples incessantly spread the nectar of the glories of the Lord."

Mahaprabhu Himself said,

পৃথিবীতে যত আছে নগরাদি গ্রাম ।
সর্ব্বত্র প্রচার হইবে মোর নাম ॥১২৬॥

prthivite yata achhe nagaradi grama
sarvatra prachara haibe mora nama

"My Name will be spread in every town and village of the world."

Who actually fulfilled this prophecy? Jagad Guru Srila Prabhupad, our Guru-varga, our Param Guru Maharaj, Gurudev preaching about all this all over the world. Therefore, we must be Mahaprabhu's messengers. Srila Prabhupad said: if you send a letter to the Lord, you will not get a reply; but if you write a letter to a close associate of the Lord, to the Lord's very own, then you will get news from the Lord—so much so that you can merely make a phone call to that person and you can find out where and how you can get the Lord...

Now we will chant another kirtan, and I will continue speaking after that.

[His Divine Grace then chants 'Gurudev bada krpa kari...']

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