Who Will You Blame?

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Sri Vyasa Puja of Srila B.S. Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj
Sri Nrisingha Palli, evening class
1 January 2021, part 11, translated from Bengali

We must always read about these things. If you just read Gaudiya Gitanjali (the kirtan book), you can get purport of all scriptures in it. Be it Srimad Bhagavad-gita, Srimad Bhagavatam, Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, everything is there in Gaudiya Gitanjali. There is also a small book Saranagati. Even if you always stay at home, you can practise Krishna consciousness.

There is 'grantha Bhagavata' (book Bhagavatam) and 'Vaishnav Bhagavata' (devotee Bhagavatam). There is no difference between them. If you listen to Vaishnavs, what comes from their mouths is all written in scriptures. You should read books, you should study...

Some of you started preparing to leave yesterday in the morning, thinking, "When will I get home?" You love your home so much. I fled to my room and locked the door, otherwise everyone would starting queuing outside—everyone is waiting anxiously, "When will I run home? When will I go home?" You think your home cannot run without you, there is nobody to look after the family, but when you die, who will look after your house and family? You never think about it!

ভাল মন্দ খাই, হেরি, পরি, চিন্তাহীন ।
নাহি ভাবি এ দেহ ছাড়িব কোনদিন ॥

bhala manda khai, heri, pari, chinta-hina
nahi bhavi, e deha chhadiba kona dina

I eat luxuriously, look around, and dress carelessly, never considering that one day I will leave this body.

(Gitavali, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

You never think you will leave this body, but death is always running behind you! You know, you can go to the Howrah station, and even if you offer somebody a book for free, they will tell you, "No, no, I have no time, I have no time," and they run away to catch their train, with their bags and folders pressed under their arms. One time, somebody stepped into the train with one leg, the door closed, and the train started moving—the person fell down and as the train dragged the man on, the man hit a pillar on the way and died! They are in such a hurry! They are so anxious about money. This is how people live in this world. Only money, only money. They cannot understand that money is the root of all evils. If the Lord wants to give you His wealth, then nobody can stop Him, just as nobody can stop it if the Lord wants to take something away.

We have forgotten the Lord. We remember everything, but we have forgotten the Lord. We remember our father, mother, wife, sons, friends, relatives, but we do not remember the Lord, and we do not remember our Guru. We become stricken with grave misfortune. We are so unfortunate, we are so wicked (that is why we sing in one of the kirtans: "Emana durmati samsara bhitare padiya achhinu ami (এমন দুর্ম্মতি সংসার-ভিতরে পড়িয়া আছিনু আমি): I am very wicked-minded and have fallen into this material world"). That is why I am earnestly praying to you all: please never forget the Lord, always remember the Lord. You must never forget your Guru. If you send your letter to your Guru, you will get a response, but if you write a letter to the Lord, you will not get a reply. Yet if you write a letter to Gurudev, who is the Lord's deputy, he will give you news about the Lord, about Krishna, and about His home. You must go to the Lord, you must take shelter of a bona fide Guru, and when you take shelter of a bona fide Guru, you must practise Krishna consciousness. You must never forget the Lord. If you forget the Lord, Maya will catch you.

কৃষ্ণ ভুলি' সেই জীব অনাদি-বহির্ম্মুখ ।
অতএব মায়া তারে দেয় সংসারাদি-দুঃখ ॥

krsna bhuli' sei jiva anadi-bahirmukha
ataeva maya tare deya samsaradi-duhkha

Having forgotten Krishna, the soul wanders throughout the universe. Being thus covered by illusion, the soul goes through all kinds of material suffering.

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 20.117)

Because we have forgotten the Lord since the time immemorial, Maya is constantly, repeatedly giving us various miseries and agonising suffering—we keep falling again and again to this prison of illusory environment. We are forced to suffer again and again. When we forget our own happiness and think about the happiness of the Lord, then the Lord will keep you in a happy place. The Lord Himself says, "If you worry and think about Me, then I will think about you, and if you do not think about Me and only worry about yourself, then I will not look at you—whether you are dead or alive, I will not care—it is not my duty to look after that. I sent you to this world, and I have also sent you a sadhu, My deputy, to tell you about Me, but you did not listen to him carefully, you did not follow what he said, you did not live following his guidance, so I will not look after you. I will keep pulling you in and out of this prison of illusory world, I will keep forcing you to come and go from this material world."

কয় বার এলি কয় বার গেলি
তবু তত্ত্ব না শিখিলি ।
নিজের মাথা নিজে খাইলি
এ দোষ দিবি কারে ভাই ?

kaya bara eli kaya bara geli
tabu tattva na sikhili
nijer matha nije khaili
e-dosa dibe kare bhai?

"Coming and going, coming and going, and never learnt anything. You have been eating your own brain, who will you blame now, brother?"

Whose fault is it?! Only your own! I am my own friend, and I am my own enemy. If I do not make a step forward—if I do not remember the Lord, if I do not think about the Lord; Guru and Vaishnavs come and keep telling me again and again, but if I do not listen to them, then I destroy my own fortune.

Therefore, we must always practise Krishna consciousness. If you practise Krishna consciousness, the Lord will bestow auspiciousness and spiritual benefit onto you.

— : • : —

{ 2001  |   2002  |   2003  |   2005  |   2009  |   2010  |   2011  |   2012 }
{ 2013  |   2014  |   2015  |   2016  |   2017  |   2018  |   2019  |   2020  |   2021 }

• Listen to the audio or download (2 Mb, 5 min)