(7/13) Amidst What Are You Sitting?

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 7

I told you yesterday that nine kinds of devotion reside on each of the nine (nava) corresponding islands (dvip) of Nabadwip. Do you remember what devotion resides in Godrumdwip, where we are present now? Kirtan (chanting the glories of the Lord). It is an abode of kirtan (kirtanakhya-dham). What devotion is there in Mayapur? Atma-nivedan (self-submission).

আদৌশ্রদ্ধা ততঃ সাধুসঙ্গোঽথ ভজনক্রিয়া ।
ততোঽনর্থনিবৃত্তিঃ স্যাৎ ততো নিষ্ঠা রুচিস্ততঃ ॥
অথাসক্তিস্ততো ভাবস্ততঃ প্রেমাভ্যুদঞ্চতি ।
সাধকানাময়ং প্রেম্ণঃ প্রাদুর্ভাবে ভবেৎ ক্রমঃ ॥

adau sraddha tatah sadhu-sango 'tha bhajana-kriya
tato 'nartha-nivrttih syat tato nistha ruchis tatah
athasaktis tato bhavas tatah premabhyudanchati
sadhakanam ayam premnah pradurbhave bhavet kramah

'First, there is faith; then, saintly association and practising life. After that, unwanted habits gradually go away, spiritual life becomes stable, and spiritual taste comes. Then comes attachment, feeling and finally transcendental love. This is how love for the Lord comes to those who practise Krishna consciousness.'

(Sri Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu, 1.4.15-16)

Learn these nine stages by heart. Become a proper disciple: study these things, learn these things by heart. Even if you do not know how to read and write, you can hear about these things again and again and you will learn it. It is not necessary to have much scholarship. Can you say in which university Radharani studied? Did She study at Cambridge or Oxford? Her university is Service University. Do you understand what that means? 'Radha' means She who worships (aradhya) the most, who serves the Lord the most. This is the university where she studied. She studied neither at Cambridge nor at Oxford. She was not an expert scholar, but She has rightful qualification in everything. She possess such kind of divine love, divine mood of a gopi that even the Supreme Lord Himself showed, 'Laksmi Devi can stay away, Sivji can stay away, Narayan can keep away, Narad can keep away, even all the queens of Dvaraka headed by Rukmini and Satyabhama can stay away – none of them are My devotees! Nobody is capable of giving the kind of love that My gopis have for Me.' Krishna personally showed this. Gopis never think about their own happiness!

When they were asked to give their footdust, gopis did not think, 'We serve Krishna's holy feet, how can we allow our foot dust to be put on His head?! We will drown in sin!' Did they even think of sin? They did not. Laksmi Devi and everyone else thought of it ('I will be committing a sin! What will become of me? I will be done!'), but not them. And who is the highest among all gopis? Srimati Radhika. She is the highest because She has worshipped and served Krishna the most. This is her university degree.

I wrote in Guidance 4 that it is necessary to serve extracting and smearing mellows of deep love from your heart. 'What makes Him happy?' – this is what we must always think about. It is necessary to be expert at giving happiness to Him, to be always alert and attentive to His happiness. We must give up all our interests, throw everything away for His happiness. Remember this!

You must serve with love, affection, extracting loving devotion from your very heart. You must always think about what makes Him happy. You must be anxious to make Him happy and always be alert and conscious of His happiness. Sacrifice your selfish interests for His happiness, serve for His happiness. Just as people sit near a fire to keep themselves warm in winter, sannyasis also always sit amidst fire blazing on all four sides. What is this fire? This fire is Hari-katha, kirtan, service to the Lord, and service to the guru. You must progress in your practising life keeping the sacrificial fire of your service ablaze.

[To a devotee falling asleep] Are you sleeping? Give me some water, I will throw it at your eyes. Do you know what they did to me in my childhood when I would be falling asleep? When it was after twelve o'clock, my father would sit in the room and punish me. Our house was made with corrugated iron, and there was a horizontal bar at the ceiling. He would tie my hair to that bar (I had long hair in my childhood, not short as now) and when I was falling asleep, I would get pulled on my hair and stay awake. This is the kind of punishment I would get for falling asleep. Even when it was twelve at night, he did not spare me. He would tell me, 'You must study for twenty hours!' That is why I am still habituated to studying. I still study to this day. He would not agree even for eighteen hours – he would insist that I study for twenty hours a day. I would sleep with my grandmother (my father's mother) in the room, and she would often tell him, 'Leave the boy!' He did not leave me. He would come again at four in the morning and wake me up. This is how I studied...

See? [towards the drowsy devotee] They are sleeping again... Can one sleep hearing all this? If you hear what I am saying, you will not be able to sleep. You must sleep at night. Man is a slave of his habits. If you always go to bed at eleven–twelve, you will become accustomed to it. The kind of habits you have always depends on what you always do. If I say, 'OK, there is no class today, I will go to sleep,' what will be then? We cannot follow the whims of our minds. Satisfying the whims of your mind is not Krishna consciousness – Krishna consciousness means serving Sri Guru and Vaishnavs in strict adherence to them and pleasing their mind. What is called spiritual life, or Krishna consciousness? It means making your guru and Vaishnavs happy, pleasing them. If you can satisfy them, then your spiritual life will be successful; nothing else is required.

— : • : —

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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