(5/14) Seeking Respite

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Uluberia, 12 January 2021, part 5
Translated from Bengali

কাঁদিয়া কাঁদিয়া জানাইব দুঃখগ্রাম ।
সংসার অনল হৈতে মাগিব বিশ্রাম ॥

kandiya kandiya janaiba duhkha-grama samsara anala haite magiba visrama

‘Weeping, I will tell Vaishnav Thakur about my miserable life and pray to him for respite from the fire of material existence.’

(Sri Kalyan-kalpataru, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

How can we get respite from the fire of the material world? We keep coming and going, coming and again, again and again, burning in the fire of the miseries of this world. Today we are born as dogs, tomorrow as cats, another time as sheep, hens, humans, as Russians, Indians, Japanese, Bangladeshis, Pakistanis. Everyone is born in various situations and families in this world. Even when we were born as dogs or pigs, we were born in some families, and now we are born in human families. You can understand what an agony it is to live in the material world. We keep suffering from all sorts of austerities, difficulties and pain. On top of that, this life is not eternal:

জীবন অনিত্য জানহ সার,
তাহে নানাবিধ বিপদ ভার
নামাশ্রয় করি’ যতনে তুমি,
থাকহ আপন কাজে ॥

jivana anitya janaha sara
tahe nana-vidha vipada-bhara
namasraya kari’ yatane tumi,
thakaha apana kaje

‘You must know the main truth that this life is not eternal and full of various dangers. Carry on your life but try your best to take shelter in the Holy Name.’

(Sri Gitavali, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

Do what you have to do, but in the meantime take shelter of the Holy Name. Taking shelter of the Holy Name means taking shelter of the Lord because the Lord and the Lord’s Name are non-different from each other. The Name is Hare Krishna, and He who bears the Name is Krishna. They are the same; there is no difference. Therefore, we must take shelter of the Name (Nama) and the bearer of the Name (Nami) and surrender to Their holy feet; otherwise, we will keep coming and going.

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, you never learnt anything! You have been eating your own brain – who will you blame for this, brother?’

Whose fault is it? My own. I have many faults. It is not your fault that I am born in this world and live in this world. The fault is only mine. This world! What is this world like?

সংসার সংসার করি মিছে গেল কাল ।
লাভ না হইল কিছু ঘটিল জঞ্জাল ॥
কিসের সংসার এই, ছায়াবাজী প্রায় ।
ইহাতে মমতা করি বৃথা দিন যায় ॥
দিন যায় মিছা কাজে নিশা নিদ্রাবশে ।
নাহি ভাবি মরণ নিকটে আছে বসে ॥

samsara samsara kari michhe gela kala
labha na haila kichhu ghatila janjala
kisera samsara ei, chhayabaji praya
ihate mamata kari vrtha dina yaya
dina yaya michha kaje nisa nidra-vase
nahi bhavi marana nikate achhe base

‘I have wasted all my time on material life and family and have got nothing but garbage as the result. What kind of life is this? It is only a trick, a show. I have wasted time taking this world and the people around me in it as my own. My days pass in useless work and nights are wasted on sleep. It never occurs to me that death is there, waiting right next to me.’

(Sri Kalyan-Kalpataru, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

We never think that we can leave at this very moment. We are making a three-storey house hoping to stay there nicely, but we can leave and never even see that house. I have seen many people end up like that.

দিন যায় মিছা কাজে নিশা নিদ্রাবশে ।
নাহি ভাবি মরণ নিকটে আছে বসে ॥

dina yaya michha kaje nisa nidra-vase
nahi bhavi marana nikate achhe base

‘My days pass in useless work and nights are wasted on sleep. It never occurs to me that death is there, waiting right next to me.’

(Sri Kalyan-Kalpataru, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

We never think that we can leave the world this very moment. That is why it is said in the song that we are singing now:

কাঁদিয়া কাঁদিয়া জানাইব দুঃখগ্রাম ।
সংসার অনল হৈতে মাগিব বিশ্রাম ॥

kandiya kandiya janaiba duhkha-grama samsara anala haite magiba visrama

‘Weeping, I will tell Vaishnav Thakur about my miserable life and pray to him for respite from the fire of material existence.’

(Sri Kalyan-kalpataru, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

We pray, ‘My Lord, when will I get some respite? When will I get some respite from this material world??’ Many of you may think, ‘This life is so difficult, I want to commit suicide!’ You think that you can take your life and get some respite, but this is not so. You will get no rest – instead, you will fall into even more suffering because you will get a worse birth. Not only that, until the sraddha ceremony is conducted for you, you will live as a ghost in no man’s land. Do you understand what ‘no man’s land’ means? For example, India borders with China and Nepal, and there is a place at the border that both countries have no right over. So, when somebody commits suicide, they stay in such a position – neither in the sky nor on earth – for fourteen days (until the sraddha ceremony is conducted), they roam everywhere in the air, sometimes taking shelter under a tree. After that, they get another body, but they do not get a good body – they have to reap the result of their past actions (karma). It means that they can become insects, spiders, animals, birds or some other species. So, you think that you will get relief from all the pain, but this is a misconception: your pain will only increase.

— : • : —

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

CLICK TO LISTEN TO THE LECTURE

Size: 49 Mb
Length: 101 min
Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) What Is Surrender?
2) Proper Recipient for Proper Taste
3) Highest Stance
4) Cry and Pray
5) Seeking Respite
6) Greatest Choice
7) Nityananda Prabhu's Mercy
8) Mahaprabhu's Mercy
9) His Things, For His Service
10) Faith Is Not Idle
11) Devotion or Display?
12) Example to Follow
13) Shelter of Sri Guru's Mercy
14) Service or Offence?