(13/13) Insurmountable Devotion

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

One time, showing a pastime of illness, Krishna suddenly had a very strong headache. What medicine was prescribed to Him? While Krishna was lying in the room, showing that He was sick, He Himself came disguised as a doctor and said to Mother Yasoda, ‘Do not worry, Krishna will get well. Here is what you should do – give Him some dust from the feet of His devotees, and 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. But 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 gets well.’ They gave their foot dust.

Another time, Krishna decided to test and prove Radharani’s chastity. That day, He had a 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, ‘Yes, I am putting water on His head, but it is not helping.’ 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.’

Neither Jatila nor Kutila could do that. Both of them always criticised others saying, ‘This girl is bad’, ‘That girl is bad’, so Mother Yasoda thought, ‘They always say that others are bad, then they must be very chaste themselves.’ She asked Jatila, and 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! Try Radharani.’ Krishna created some illusion. Mother Yasoda went to look for Radharani, and when she came and explained the matter to Radharani, Radharani immediately understood, ‘Prabhu, this is Your lila.’ She surrendered everything to Krishna, ‘Prabhu, everything will be as You desire. 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 submerged a clay pot into the water and, taking Krishna’s Name, took it out – Krishna closed all holes in the pot with a hundred fingers, and She carried the pot to Krishna’s home on Her shoulder. Nobody could see what had happened. (Do you think you can see everything with these eyes? You must see with your hearts’ eyes.) Everybody saw Radharani 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 is always where His devotees are. He does not stay with non-devotees – He can only show 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 that there is an A/C installed for the Deities. When it is hot, we suffer and use the A/C, and, in the same way, we also put an A/C in the Lord’s room. We put a chadar on when we feel cold, and, in the same way, we must give a chadar to the Deities also. For example, when it is very cold in Russia, they dress Deities in very thick, blanket-like clothes. 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 know that 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

‘The Lord can be known only by those who have got at least a drop of His mercy.’

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 2.6.83)

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) – you can get devotion through the association of devotees’ (Brihan-naradiya Purana). You can get devotion only through the association of devotees – you will not get devotion by associating with non-devotees. ‘Asat-sanga sada tyaga chhada anya gita-raga (অসৎ-সঙ্গ সদা ত্যাগ, ছাড় অন্য গীতরাগ) – give up bad association and do not listen to material songs and music’ (Srila Narottam Das Thakur). You must give up all other songs, music and other entertainment. 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 – we 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 other people’s 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 a bad smell? Does the place where people pass stool not smell? If you always dig in dirty things – gossiping, criticising about others, talking bad 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, and 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’

‘Vaishnavs’ character 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)

Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur says that whenever he hears any offence against 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 bala se dina amara (কবে হবে বল, সে দিন আমার): tell me, when will that day be mine?…’

Jay Srila Guru Maharaj ki jay.

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Length: 112 min
Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) An Auspicious Evening
2) An Auspicious Birth
3) Turning Back Home
4) Beyond Perverted Comfort Zone
5) What Are Your Plans?
6) Life In Lord's Family
7) Not So Fast, Not So Cheap
8) Mano-dharma vs. Bhagavat-dharma
9) Eternal Values
10) Ultimate Word of Scripture
11) Guided and Misguided
12) Exclusive Zone
13) Insurmountable Devotion