(5/13) Clear Vision

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 5, translated from Bengali

When there was a lockdown, everybody had a lockdown but not I – my car was going everywhere. I did not have any lockdown – it is the government that had a lockdown, not I. Those who needed a lockdown, they were in a lockdown, but I did not need it: I am a preacher, and I go house to house preaching Mahaprabhu’s conception to everyone. Somebody does not want to listen, somebody starts swearing, somebody closes their door, but even if they close the door or swear you, you must come and knock on their door ten more times. This is our work, our duty.

I keep coming and saying, ‘Come, you must chant the Holy Name!’ I am a beggar, and this is the alms I want: ‘I am begging you for one thing only: come with us and chant the Holy Name of Krishna (Krsna bala, sange chala, ei matra bhiksa chai; (কৃষ্ণ বল, সঙ্গে চল, এই মাত্র ভিক্ষা চাই))!’ Another thing I come to beg for is this: ‘Please bless me so that I may have devotion to Krishna. I will come to your house ten times – even if you kick me out, I will still come; even if you beat me, I will come again. Even if you beat me with a stick or a broom, I will still come. You must come to this path! You must come!’ This is what I come to say. This is how we preach for Mahaprabhu for as long as we are alive in this world. ‘As long as you have life in the body, you must preach (prana achhe yara, sei hetu prachara; প্রাণ আছে যার সেই হেতু প্রচার).’

When your life is gone, you will not be able to preach, that is why Srila Prabhupad Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur said that as long as you have life in your body, you must preach. You know, Gurudev spoke so much that he would sometimes cough blood (his servant would be standing by, helping him wipe it), but even then he did not stop! If blood comes out of your mouths, you will run to hospital or stay in bed, but when blood came from Gurudev’s mouth, he continued speaking. He would lose voice when he sang kirtans, but he still continued singing. He did not stop speaking about the Lord! Such was my guru, and I have learnt from him. He gave me his blessings, and I want to be like him – I will not do anything else. I do not think about my health – I engage my body and my health in the service of the Lord, and I know that the Lord will take care of my health. One day I have to die anyway, so I do not worry about it. I rely on the Lord. You think that somebody can save you, but only the Lord will save you. Gurudev gives you life, so if he says, ‘You must stay here,’ you will be here, and if he says that you do not need to stay here anymore, then you will leave – you will have to leave. Therefore, there is no use sitting in the room.

This is how we must preach. You must make yourselves supremely qualified (uttam) in this way.

This temple and mission are not mine only. How long will I be here? You are the ones who will stay behind, and you must always come here. You must always keep love and affection for gurudev, you must always come to the temple – if you cannot stay permanently, come from time to time, stay for five–ten days now and then. What are you so worried about? Why do you need to say, ‘Gurudev, I am coming for seven days this time’? One devotee’s daughter came and told me, ‘I will stay for seven days,’ and I told her, ‘Why seven days? Stay for seven years!’ If you stay here, your life will be longer. You live at your homes and worry about your sons, about this, that – you do not need to think about all this. Stay here, practise Krishna consciousness and think about the Lord. You will live longer. Instead of staying at your homes and worrying about everyone and everything, come to the temple, chant the Holy Name of the Lord and serve the Lord, and you will live happily. But, no, you come for seven days only…

This is your home! Do you think that I have built all these rooms and temples for myself? Do you think I have brothers, sisters, relatives or friends who will live here? Do I have any family? You are my family. Then why will you not come to stay here? Who will stay here if not you? This is home for those who want to practise Krishna consciousness. My friends, family, etc. are you all.

Actually, I have a younger brother from my previous ashram, but I do not even speak to him. He sometimes disturbs me, but I told him, ‘You are all dacoits disguised as family.’ I told it to him straight. He calls me to say, ‘Oh, your dear father is struggling to breathe.’ I said, ‘Of course! Why wouldn’t he?’ When I studied in grade seven, he gave me one rupee in the morning and told me to get him bidi (cigarettes) after school. The way to school took one hour on foot and there were no proper roads, so I walked down mud roads, wearing half-pants (the era of full pants had not come yet at that time). When I came to school and started studying, I realised that the rupee he gave me had fallen out of my pocket somewhere on the way. As the day went by, I forgot all about buying bidi or the money, but when I came home, he beat me so much that I ‘forgot my father’s name’! He has been smoking all his life, and now he is saying that he has trouble breathing! I said that it was only natural – he cannot breathe? Well and good! Why wouldn’t he? They have to suffer, it is natural. I am neither sad nor distressed about it at all. I told my younger brother that they are dacoits in disguise of family. It means that they look like family, but actually they are dacoits because they only think how to take you away from the Lord. All material relatives and family are disguised dacoits! They come to forcefully rob you. You must always remember this. Devotees of the Lord can never be dacoits – they come and arrange everything for you to give you mercy.

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Length: 80 min
Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Know and Love the Lord
2) Develop Deepest Dedication
3) At Lord's Home
4) Pure Preacher's Position
5) Clear Vision
6) Clear Identity
7) Sustaining Yourself on Gurudev's Words
8) Internal Purity
9) Kirtan-Yajna
10) Give Up Illusory Luxuries
11) Who Will You Blame?
12) Analysis Is Paralysis
13) Western Idiosyncrasies