(5/13) Four Biggest Hurdles

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 5

Tomorrow is Gurudev's holy appearance day. Many of you have been to Bamunpara, Bardhaman District, the place where Gurudev came to this world...

Who has brought such a big garland? Give it to Gurudev's holy feet. All pratistha, all name and fame, must be placed at gurudev's holy feet. There are three things. Where does kanak (money) belong to? Can you say it? Kanak (money) belongs to Narayan. Kamini (women) belongs to Krishna: all kama (everything enjoyable that exists in the world) is meant for Krishna's service, not for my own enjoyment. If I have a wife, she is not an object of my enjoyment – she is a maidservant of Krishna, and I am a servant of Krishna. Remember this. Those who think about their wives as something to be enjoyed will go to hell. That is why it is said that kamini (women) belong to Krishna. And the third thing, pratistha (name and fame), belongs to gurudev. 'Kanaka, kamini, pratistha-baghini chhadiyachhe yare sei ta vaisnava (কনক-কামিনী প্রতিষ্ঠা-বাঘিনী ছাড়িয়াছে যারে সেই ত বৈষ্ণব): Vaishnavs are those who give up money, women and fame the tigress' (Vaisnav Ke?, Srila Saraswati Thakur). Who is a Vaishnav? A Vaishnav is the one who can give up money, women and fame.

Therefore, all fame must be given to gurudev. Even when you are offered a garland, you must say, 'Jay Gurudev'. If you submit everything to gurudev, you will not become heavy. What happens when your boat becomes too heavy? It sinks. What happens when one eats too much? If my pratistha grows, then I will fall down: even if it is a sannyasi or a guru, they will fall down. Thousands of Gaudiya devotees have fallen down, going astray. There were very great gurus who had thousands of disciples, but in the end they fell down. Why did this happen? Falling down is not death, but, in another sense, it is similar to death. Falling down means the person went to another line. Gurus can make many disciples but fall down in the end? What is the cause? Either some vaishnav-aparadha or pratistha. Fame is called pig's stool (pratistha sukarer vistha; প্রতিষ্ঠা শুকরের বিষ্ঠা). You know, it is possible to tolerate the stench of human stool, but the stench of pig's stool is unbearable.

When Srila Gaura Kishor Das Babaji Maharaj (the guru of Srila Prabhupad – you can see his photograph in our parampara on the altar) came from Radha Kunda, he stayed in Koladwip (Nabadwip). Do you know where he stayed at some point? At a public toilet, where people came to pass stool. In the old days, it was not made so nicely – somebody made some shed, and people would come there to pass stool. Srila Gaura Kishor Das Babaji Maharaj slept in one of such toilets. Everybody asked him, 'Babaji Maharaj, how can you be sleeping here? Do you not get the smell? When we pass this place, we put a cloth to our face or hold our noses to block the smell – we cannot tolerate the stench.' Do you know what Srila Gaura Kishor Das Babaji Maharaj said in reply? 'It is not a problem to tolerate this smell! But it is not possible to tolerate the smell coming from materialists (visayi)!'

Materialists are always livings amidst dollars, cents, wealth, property, cars, houses – they are always worrying about great buildings and big temples; they do not think about the Lord. They open their shops that they call 'temples' and sit there waiting for customers to come and increase their business. 'Who is coming to my shop? Who is coming to give some donation?' I told you before that there are many pranam-taking (obeisance-taking) gurus and many pranami-taking (donation-taking) gurus in this world. Some people come to me and say, 'Please wait. I want to give you my obeisance,' but I say, 'I do not take anybody's obeisances. Give your obeisance to gurudev.' So, there are many pranam-taking gurus and many pranami-taking gurus in this world, but you will not find a genuine guru (sad-guru) in this world. Do you understand it? A genuine guru is the one who listens to what his guru says, who listens to his guru's Hari-katha very carefully, with heart and soul – if they can hear it, then they can tell it to others after that (when they hear it, they apply it – they practise accordingly and preach). It is necessary to understand this.

You do not serve the guru by staying next to the guru. Some can stay with the guru, but what do they do? Suppose gurudev is sitting and speaking Hari-katha, and somebody comes to offer him obeisance and give a dollar or a rupee. The servant is watching to see how many dollars and rupees have been given. They do not watch what gurudev needs or does not need, they watch money ('How much money did they give to gurudev? Who gave money to gurudev?'). They become materialists (visayi). They live thinking about money. Gurudev told this to me one time, and I wrote about it in Guidance 4. If you read this book, you will find everything about guru-tattva in it. Buy Guidance 3 and Guidance 4.

...The opportunity is gone now. Sitting in the room for ten months, people gave up all their relatives – how much they can tolerate! Giving up all their family and relatives, people stayed in their houses during the lockdown. No cars, no trains, no horses – everything was closed down. You have been living like this, struggling...

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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