(6/14) Greatest Choice

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Uluberia, 12 January 2021, part 6
Translated from Bengali

শুনিয়া আমার দুঃখ বৈষ্ণব ঠাকুর ।
আমা’ লাগি’ কৃষ্ণে আবেদিবেন প্রচুর ॥

suniya amara duhkha vaisnava thakura
ama’ lagi’ krsne avedibena prachura

‘Hearing about my sorrow, worshippable Vaishnav Thakur will ardently pray to Krishna on my behalf.’

বৈষ্ণবের আবেদনে কৃষ্ণ দয়াময় ।
এ হেন পামর প্রতি হবেন সদয় ॥

vaisnavera avedane krsna dayamaya
e hena pamara prati habena sadaya

‘Hearing Vaishnav Thakur’s appeal, merciful Lord Krishna will take pity on this wretched sinner.’

(Sri Kalyan-kalpataru, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

When you tell Vaishnavs about your unhappiness and ask them how you can get relief from it, Vaishnavs will listen to you, and you can get some mercy because they will pray to the Lord on your behalf. However, not everyone turns to the Lord. There is a verse in Srimad Bhagavad-gita:

মন্মনা ভব মদ্ভক্তো মদ্­যাজী মাং নমস্কুরু ।
মামেবৈষ্যসি যুক্ত্বৈবমাত্মানং মৎপরায়ণঃ ॥

man-mana bhava mad-bhakto, mad-yaji mam namaskuru
mam evaisyasi yuktvaivam, atmanam mat-parayanah

‘Always think of Me, be My devotee, always worship Me and offer obeisances to Me. Offering yourself to Me and taking refuge in Me in this way, you will come to Me.’

(Srimad Bhagavad-gita, 9.34)

‘Those who always think about Me, who are devoted to Me, who worship Me, who pay obeisances to Me – such devotees always attain Me. I am attained by those who take shelter in Me with their minds, bodies and souls. It is such devotees’ prayers that I hear.’ The Lord does not listen to anyone and everyone. Krishna Himself says, ‘I will listen to those who bow to Me, who take Me as their own, who surrender to Me. I do not listen to anyone else. I know only those who know only Me. Vaishnavs do not know anyone else except Me, and I also do not know, do not recognise anyone else except Vaishnavs.’ These are very beautiful words.

So, when Vaishnavs appeal to the Lord on our behalf, Krishna becomes very merciful, and He takes pity on such extremely lowly souls as us because a Vaishnav, or gurudev, prays for us to Him, ‘Prabhu, please give this soul a break from the burning fire of the material world so that they can start practising Krishna consciousness.’

Do you understand the meaning of what I am saying? There is another beautiful verse in Srimad Bhagavad-gita:

অপি চেৎ সুদুরাচারো ভজতে মামনন্যভাক্ ।
সাধুরেব স মন্তব্যঃ সম্যগ্ব্যবসিতো হি সঃ ॥

api chet suduracharo, bhajate mam ananya-bhak
sadhur eva sa mantavyah, samyag vyavasito hi sah

‘If even a very sinful person serves Me exclusively with devotion, he should be regarded as saintly, for his resolve is perfect.’

(Srimad Bhagavad-gita, 9.30)

‘Even if someone is very bad, even if they are worse than the worst – the person may have practised much karma, jnana or anything else – but if they give everything up and worship Me (even if somebody has committed terrible sins, killed others, and so on, but if they have surrendered to Me), then I will know them to be a sadhu because they lead a good life now. I allow such sadhus to hear about Me from My devotees and purify their hearts from all dirt, and then I give them shelter at My holy feet.’

These are very beautiful words. You must read Srimad Bhagavad-gita carefully. Buy a copy – it is a small book, you can carry it with you in a pocket – and read it.

So, this is how ‘hearing Vaishnav Thakur’s appeal, merciful Lord Krishna takes pity on such a wretched sinner as myself.’

বিনোদের নিবেদন বৈষ্ণব চরণে ।
কৃপা করি সঙ্গে লহ এই অকিঞ্চনে ॥

vinodera nivedana vaisnava charane
krpa kari’ sange laha ei akinchane

‘Bhaktivinod prays at the holy feet of Vaishnavs: “Please take this destitute soul with you.”’

(Sri Kalyan-kalpataru, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur prays to Vaishnavs, ‘Prabhu, please take me wherever you go.’ If you stay with Vaishnavs, they will take you wherever they go.

বৈষ্ণবের আবেদনে কৃষ্ণ দয়াময় ।
এ হেন পামর প্রতি হবেন সদয় ॥

vaisnavera avedane krsna dayamaya
e hena pamara prati habena sadaya

‘Hearing Vaisnav Thakur’s appeal, merciful Lord Krishna will take pity on this wretched sinner.’

বিনোদের নিবেদন বৈষ্ণব চরণে ।
কৃপা করি সঙ্গে লহ এই অকিঞ্চনে ॥

vinodera nivedana vaisnava charane
krpa kari’ sange laha ei akinchane

‘Bhaktivinod prays at the holy feet of Vaishnavs: “Please take this destitute soul with you.”’

(Sri Kalyan-kalpataru, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

There is still time to turn. There are two ways. Do you hanker for material love and happiness or do you hanker for eternal happiness? If you want to have money, wealth, houses, cars and enjoy in this material world forever, then you will not get anything else in this world. If you think about money, things, property, wealth, houses, cars or anything else in this world, then you can even come to the doorstep of the highest plane, but you will not be able to enter there no matter how much you practise Krishna consciousness (even if you have taken initiation). I have told you that one does not become a disciple just by taking initiation. If you take initiation and use your gurudev, this is not initiation.

When you take initiation, you must serve your guru. Serving your guru does not mean massaging his feet – serving your guru means listening to what your guru says and preaching (practising). ‘Prana achhe yara, sei hetu prachara (প্রাণ আছে যার সেই হেতু প্রচার). You must preach about the Lord for as long as you have life in this body.’ I hear others say all the time, ‘Oh, it is a lockdown now’, ‘Oh, it is a lockdown now’, but I have not stopped speaking Hari-katha even during lockdowns. My car goes everywhere, and all the temples are running as always. Neither lockdown nor anything else can stop me. I went for preaching before, and I am preaching now, too. I give classes online, and I also go outside for preaching.

You must understand that the Lord is the master. You say here in Bengal, ‘Janma-mrtyu-biye tin Vidhatar niye (জন্ম মৃত্যু বিয়ে তিন বিধাতার নিয়ে).’ There are three things – ‘janma’ means ‘birth’, ‘mrityu’ means ‘death’, and ‘biye’ means ‘marriage’; these three things are not in anybody’s hands – they are only in the hands of the Lord (they come through the Lord). So, death and birth are not under your control – can you say when you will be born or when you will die?

Somebody asked me, ‘Oh, you said during the class yesterday that Vyasadev’s son, Sukadev, had spent twelve years in his mother’s womb, refusing to come out because he did not want to be attacked by the illusory environment, and when he finally appeared, he ran to the forest. How can it be possible?’ The day before yesterday, a cow at our Nrisingha Palli temple gave birth to a calf, and when the calf was born, it stood up and began to play around within just half an hour. If a calf can stand right after birth, then why cannot Sukadev Goswami, the son of the great sage Vyasadev, do that? It is necessary to think about these things. When people have children, they start standing up or walking after two years, but it does not take calves, deer and other living entities this long to learn to stand and walk…

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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?