(13/13) External and Internal Opulence

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Srila B.S. Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj's Vyasa Puja Adhivas
Nrisingha Palli, 31 December 2020, evening, part 13

Tomorrow is Gurudev's appearance festival, so please wake up early. Gurudev always said that making devotees struggle or suffer will take you nowhere, so if any of you are going to fast, you can do so, and if you cannot, then you do not have to. I have told the cooks to make something for everybody in the morning. I will give a class until half past eight in the morning, after that you can have breakfast. After you eat, take some rest and come again here at ten. After Hari-katha, everybody will be given prasad. Please clean everything here nicely after taking prasad because everybody will come here to hear Hari-katha. Vaishnavs and many sannyasis will come from different temples, and you will hear glorification of Sri Guru from their holy mouths.

Gurudev has gone to great pains for the temple! You all know it. Gurudev has done everything, using me as his instrument. When I came to Chaitanya Saraswat Math, there was not so much bickering ('mutual biting'). Gurudev told me, 'You are making so many buildings, but will you be able to protect and keep them?' He could perceive that from the beginning. Because so much opulence has emerged now, they started fighting for the buildings. 'Well and good, you can keep all the buildings' – I have left all those buildings and come here. When we came here, there were only two or three floors, and I have gradually tried to increase accommodation facilities here as far as it was possible. We are managing anyhow.

Soon is the festival in Ekachakra, in the holy abode of Lord Nityananda Prabhu. I have also made more rooms there. Please come for Nityananda Prabhu's festival to Ekachakra. Ekachakra is Nityananda Prabhu's abode...

This year, I have changed the dates for the temple festival in Ganga Sagar because when we go during the mela time every year, we have to struggle a lot (we cannot visit many places, etc.). That is why this time I am making this festival after the Ekachakra festival. You can find the dates in the calendars. We will hire a large ferry to go from Howrah station to Ganga Sagar and back. There is also some good news. Our temple is quite far from Ganga Sagar itself (the town), and I have recently got a place in Ganga Sagar. We will make a temple there. There is some small temple there now, but we will build a proper temple. I have got a 30-chatak land (150 yard, 0.3 acre, or 125 sq.m.). I will do a programme at that place this time. I do not know if you will come or not, but I will go, so if you want, you can all come too. You can also stay there. There is no accommodation yet at the new place, but you can stay at our existing Ganga Sagar temple. We have two places now, on both sides of the ocean. All registration has been done already, and it is settled that there will be a temple of Chaitanya Saraswat Math at the new place. There are local devotees in that place; they will be able to stay at the temple now. Please give your blessings so that we can build a temple there nicely. This is all I need. I do not want anybody's money and wealth. All I want from you all is your love and affection. If you have love and affection for your guru, if you have devotion and faith, then I do not need anything else.

You have taken initiation, and if you have faith in your guru and love for your guru, I do not need anything else – I am not asking you for hundreds or thousands of rupees. If you want to give something, you can give, that is up to you (you can do it as you please). I do not want even five or ten rupees from anybody, and I have never wanted. Neither have I ever asked any foreign devotees for money, but they want to give, so they give. The guesthouse land that we have got cost about 4,000,000 rupees, and now we have a four-storey building there. I have also expanded the temple building here and built one more floor on top. We have recently also built a temple in Uluberia – the construction of the walls and the domes has already finished, the electric works have been done, and only painting is left now. If I get time, I will inaugurate the temple before Gaura Purnima. Please come there. We could not make a lot of rooms there, but you can stay at devotees' houses.

This year also I want to take you for a parikrama of the four holy places (chara-dhama): Gangotri, Yamunotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath. I have never gone there myself, and most of you have never been there, too. I will take you there this time. You may also know that we have a place in Haridwar. I got it a long time ago from BJP. I have already started the construction. I am making small cottages there because the land is high in the mountain [it is not possible to make big buildings], but our land is not small – four bighas (2.5 acres, or 10,000 sq.m.). The construction works are going on there now.

I do not tell about all these things openly to everybody because if I tell where and what we are making, various obstacles and dangers can come. When I make one step forward, they will grab me and pull me back from behind. That is why I do not tell everyone, I do not put any sign boards. When people see those houses, they will not even understand that those are temple buildings. If I wrote the name there, people would cause a stir or die of jealousy. You can see people writing in Bengali at the backs of their tiny cars: 'Look and burn and puff up like a luchi (দেখবি আর জ্বলবি লুচির মত ফুলবি; dekhbi ar jvalbi luchir moto phulbi)!' [Devotees burst out laughing.] I sometimes see this written on cars. They have small, tiny cars, but they write this to make others jealous. It is very funny.

Anyhow, much has been said. Wake up early in the morning tomorrow. It is not necessary to go out anywhere tomorrow – tomorrow is Gurudev's holy appearance day. You should pray to Gurudev, 'Gurudev, I have come on the day of your appearance day, on the first day of the next year. May I have unflinching devotion at Your holy lotus feet.' How many days do we have left in this life and in this world? We have to leave this world any time, but if we spend however many days we have in this world chanting the Holy Name of the Lord, chanting Lord Krishna's glories and after that leave, then we will get the supreme benefit. Always remember this. We must want to have jnana-sunya bhakti (devotion devoid of intellectual pursuits). 'I do not know anything, I do not understand anything, I will only carry on doing my service. What will become of me, I do not know anything. I will only continue doing my service.'

One group can go and take prasad. I will chant some kirtan by the time. Go one by one and take prasad, it is not a problem. Otherwise, there is no place for everyone to take prasad together, and you will have to wait.

Jay Srila Guru Maharaj ki jay.
Harinam sankirtan ki jay.
Nitai Gaura premanande Hari bol.

[His Divine Grace chants 'Sarvasva tomara', 'Hari Haraye Nama Krsna', the Hare Krishna maha-mantra, recites Sri Jaya Dhvani and concludes the class. His Divine Grace mentions during the Jaya Dhvani that this festival marks Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj's 92th appearance.]

Those who want to take initiation can take it the day after, and if anybody wants to stay at the temple or you have any problems, get in touch with me. Many people have problems at their homes, many people do not look after their old grandparents – if you have any problems, you can come and stay here. I will arrange for a room and all facilities for you. We have many temples. You can stay in Vrindavan, Puri, Govardhan, Ekachakra, Siliguri, Midnapore, Tarakeshwar, here in Nrisingha Palli or in other places. If any of you is thinking of staying at the temple, you can come. I have recently brought here a devotee from Ganga Sagar, and he is now serving the cows. His wife was giving him a very hard time at home. He went with me for preaching, and then he came to me wearing just his clothes and asked me if he could stay with me. Now he has shaven his head and beard and is doing service at the goshala (a foreign devotee is also helping him). He is so old, but his wife wanted to kick him out. I told him, 'No problem, you can stay here.' He is doing service now. I want to keep everyone. Sometimes, in other missions, when devotees are old, they do not want to keep them at the temple, but I am not like that. Even if you are old, you can come.

There was one goshala man who wanted to sell cows. First he told me about it many times, and in the end he went to Gurudev. He said, 'Gurudev, I have told Maharaj to sell the cows – they are old now, they are only eating...' Gurudev told him, 'I am also old now, then kick me out too – sell me too!' You can see that there is a small goshala at the new guesthouse, and we have eight cows there. All cows were gifted to us (from South 24 Parganas and other places). We have a lot of milk here now for the service of the Lord. I always want to make goshalas and serve cows. Gurupad said, 'If your cows are happy, then everything will be good at your temple.' There were so many cows in Nabadwip, but all cows are gone now – trees, cows, plants, they have finished off everything. They have finished off the very life (prana) of the temple...

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Length: 129 min
Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Spiritual Conscience
2) Trust the Lord
3) Service Is Not a Chore
4) May You Live Clean Life
5) Four Biggest Hurdles
6) Internal Meaning of Initiation
7) Amidst What Are You Sitting?
8) Karma-Misra Bhakti
9) Beyond Jnana-Misra Bhakti
10) Indomitable Power of Mercy
11) Learn to Behave as Sadhu
12) Preparing for Festival
13) External and Internal Opulence