Insurmountable Devotion

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Basirhat, 13 January 2021, part 13
Translated from Bengali

One time, Krishna showed a pastime of being ill. Suddenly, He had a very strong headache. What medicine was prescribed? Krishna Himself came disguised as a doctor (He was lying in the room showing He was sick, and at the same time He also came as a doctor) and said, "Do not worry, Krishna will get well. Here is what you should do—if you give Him some dust from the feet of His devotees, then He will recover." Narad is Krishna's devotee, Siva is Krishna's devotee, Brahma is also His devotee, but none of them wanted to give their foot dust—they were thinking about themselves worrying they would commit a sin and go to hell. Yet Vraja gopis said, "If we commit a sin, let it be—even if our legs burn, if we get leprosy on our legs, if our legs rot, we have no objection as long as our Krishna is OK." They gave their foot dust.

Another time, Krishna decided to test and prove Radharani's chastity. That day He had fever—He was lying ill in His room in Nandagram with Mother Yasoda by His side. Disguising Himself as a doctor again, Krishna came and said, "Mother, your son's health is very bad. It is necessary to apply some water." Mother Yasoda said, "I am putting water on His head, but it does not help." The doctor explained, "No, this water will not do. Only She who has never had the darshan of Surya, who has never seen any other man's face can bring this water. She must bring it from the Yamuna in a clay pot with a hundred holes." Jatila could not do that, Kutila could not do that. Both of them always criticised others saying, "This girl is bad," "That girl is bad," so Mother Yasoda thought, "They always say others are bad, then they must be chaste themselves." She asked Jatila, Jatila said, "How is it possible to bring water in a pot with holes? It is not possible!" So, she could not do that, then Kutila also could not do that. None of the prominent girls could bring water. In the end, Krishna (in the doctor's disguise) said to Mother Yasoda, "You have gone to the wrong place! You must go to Radharani." Krishna created some illusion, and Mother Yasoda went to look for Radharani. When Mother Yasoda came and explained the matter to Radharani, Radharani immediately understood, "Prabhu, this is Your lila." She surrendered everything to Krishna, "Whatever You do, Prabhu, that will be. If You want that water to be brought, then it will be brought; and if You do not want it to be brought, then it will not happen." (It is necessary to have this kind of surrender—a surrendered soul has no offence.) Then, taking Krishna's Name, Radharani put the clay pot into the water, and, taking Krishna's Name, She took it out; then She carried it to Krishna's home on Her shoulder—Krishna closed all holes in the pot with a hundred fingers. Nobody could see it. Do you think you can see everything with these eyes? You must see with your heart's eyes. Everybody saw Her carrying water in that pot with holes, but no water came out. Everything is possible through devotion. If you want to bind the Lord, you need the rope of devotion. You cannot get the Lord by anything else except devotion. The Lord always stays with His devotees; He does not stay with non-devotees—He shows them His impersonal form.

When we worship Gopal, we dress Him, we feed Him, we fan Him. If you go to Vrindavan, you will see there is A/C installed for the Deities. When it is hot, we suffer and use A/C, in the same way we also put an A/C in the Lord's room. We put chadar on when we feel cold, and in the same way we must give chadar to the Deities also. When it is very cold in Russia, they make very thick, blanket-like clothes for the Deities. It is necessary to adjust to the environment and serve accordingly.

One can understand and know the Lord through devotion. Those who have devotion can understand this. You know, at first Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya said about Mahaprabhu, "I do not think that He is the Lord!" Gopinath Acharya told him in reply, "You have no mercy, that is why you do not think so. I have some mercy, so I think He is the Lord."

ঈশ্বরের কৃপা-লেশ হয় ত' যাহারে ।
সেই ত' ঈশ্বর-তত্ত্ব জানিবারে পারে ॥

isvarera krpa-lesa haya ta' yahare
sei ta' isvara-tattva janibare pare

"Only those who receive even a trace of the Lord's mercy, can understand the Lord."

(Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 6.83)

You cannot understand the Lord without the Lord's mercy. In the same way, you cannot understand a sadhu without the sadhu's mercy. We need sadhus' mercy...

"Bhaktis tu bhagavad-bhakta-sangena parijayate (ভক্তিস্তু ভগবদ্ভক্তসঙ্গেন পরিজায়তে, Brhan-naradiya Purana)—you can get devotion through the association of devotees." You can get devotion only through the association with the devotees—you will not get devotion associating with non-devotees. "Asat-sanga sada tyaga chhada anya gita-raga (অসৎ-সঙ্গ সদা ত্যাগ, ছাড় অন্য গীতরাগ)—give up bad association, do not listen to the material songs and music." (Sri Prema-bhakti-chandrika, 15) You must give up all other songs, music, etc. You must give up all bad association. Always associate with devotees, sadhus. Giving up bad association (asat-sanga) means we do not do village talks, we do not discuss village news, do not speak without necessity. You must associate with those who speak only about Krishna. Always avoid and ignore the association of those who speak about all the other things except Krishna. If somebody likes to talk behind others' backs, they are called 'drain inspectors'. Do you understand what a 'drain inspector' means? It means somebody always goes to the drain, and when you come to a drain, will you not get bad smell? Does the place where people pass stool not smell? If you always dig in dirty things—gossiping, criticising about others, talking bad things about others—then you will always get a bad smell, you will not get anything good from that. You must give all this up! You have eyes, but you must not see such things—you must close your eyes. You have ears—listen to Krishna-katha with your ears. You have a mouth, but you must always speak about Krishna consciousness, not about anything else.

বৈষ্ণব-চরিত্র, সর্ব্বদা পবিত্র,
যেই নিন্দে হিংসা করি’ ।
ভকতিবিনোদ না সম্ভাষে তাঁ’রে,
থাকে সদা মৌন ধরি’ ॥

vaisnava-charitra sarvada pavitra
yei ninde himsa kari'
bhaktivinoda na sambhase tan're
thake sada mauna dhari'

"The character of Vaishnavs is always pure. Bhaktivinod keeps quiet and does not associate with those who are envious of Vaishnavs and who criticise Vaishnavs."

(Sri Kalyan-kalpataru)

Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur says that whenever he hears any offence of Vaishnavs, he always remains silent and grave, he does not speak about it. Always remember this—always talk about devotional topics and associate with devotees, then you will get supreme benefit.

"Kabe habe bolo se dina amara: tell me, when will that day be mine?..."

Jay Srila Guru Maharaj ki jay.

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