Life In Lord's Family

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Basirhat, 13 January 2021, part 6
Translated from Bengali

মূকং করোতি বাচালং পঙ্গুং লঙ্ঘয়তে গিরিম্ ।
যৎকৃপা তমহং বন্দে শ্রীগুরুং দীনতারণম্ ॥

mukam karoti vachalam pangum langhayate girim
yat krpa tam aham vande sri-gurum dina-taranam

"The dumb can speak, the lame can climb a hill—all it takes is mercy from Gurudev."

(Bhavartha Dipika)

First, I am offering my full obeisance at the lotus feet of my Divine Master Om Vishnupad Jagad-guru Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj begging him for his causeless mercy, aspiring for his service; after that, I am offering my full obeisance to all assembled guru-varga, godbrothers, to all the listeners, to all the motherly lady devotees, and all the devotees. I am offering my obeisance at your holy feet and praying for your mercy to this low soul.

What day is bad for us? A bad day is a day without Hari-katha, i.e. a bad day for us is the day when we cannot hear, cannot speak Hari-katha, the day when we cannot chant and glorify the Holy Name of the Lord.

দিনের মধ্যে আবল-তাবল
কত পচাল পাড়িতে পর
তার মধ্যে কিন্তু তুমি একবার
গোবিন্দ বলে আর কথা বলিব না

dinera madhye abala-tabala
kata pachala parite para
tara madhye kintu tumi ekbara
govinda bale, ara katha baliba na

"All day you talk all kinds of nonsense, how much idle talk you engage in! But find time amidst all that to chant the Name of Govinda, do not talk about other things!"

How much people speak! When the Lord takes your mouth away, then you will not be able to speak again—He will take your power of speech away and send you to a cow's body, dog's body, goat's body. Therefore, we must always chant the Holy Name of Lord Krishna, "Krishna, Krishna."

‘কৃষ্ণনাম’ করে অপরাধের বিচার ।
কৃষ্ণ বলিলে অপরাধীর না হয় বিকার ॥

'krsna-nama' kare aparadhera vichara
krsna balile aparadhira na haya vikara

"The Holy Name of Krishna always considers who is an offender. Even if an offender chants the Name of Krishna all the time, it produces no transformation within them."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Adi-lila, 8.24)

'Hare Krishna' cannot come to the mouth of those who are offenders of the Holy Name. When Mahaprabhu went to Kasi after taking sannyas, He saw that Kasi was full of mayavadi sannyasi, and one sanodiya brahma asked Him, "Prabhu, they have studied the Vedas, Vedanta so much, they know all the Vedas, Vedanta, etc. by heart, there are so many scholars in Kasi, but why does the Holy Name of Krishna does not come to their mouth? What is the reason?" Mahaprabhu replied, "They are offenders of the Holy Name of Krishna." That is why it is said,

‘কৃষ্ণনাম’ করে অপরাধের বিচার ।
কৃষ্ণ বলিলে অপরাধীর না হয় বিকার ॥

'krsna-nama' kare aparadhera vichara
krsna balile aparadhira na haya vikara

"The Holy Name of Krishna always considers who is an offender. Even if an offender chants the Name of Krishna all the time, it produces no transformation within them."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Adi-lila, 8.24)

Somebody can chant the Holy Name, but once you hit them into their stomaches, they will cry, "Baba! Ma!" [Father! Mother!] You will not hear "Hare Krishna" from them. So, the Holy Name does not come to everyone's mouth. That is why Mahaprabhu says, "The Holy Name of Krishna always considers who is an offender. Even if an offender chants the Name of Krishna all the time, it produces no transformation within them. The Holy Name cannot come to the mouth of those who are offenders of the Holy Name of Krishna." After that, Mahaprabhu asked that sanodiya brahman to invite Prakasananda Saraswati to one gathering. At that time, Mahaprabhu explained all this in the presence of Prakasananda Saraswati. After a long discussion and debate about some slokas, everyone surrendered to Mahaprabhu.

Mahaprabhu said, "I came to Kasi with a basket of Harinam—I came to sell the Holy Name, but nobody wanted to buy it. I gave the Holy Name freely to anyone and everyone, but they did not want to take it..." So, not everybody gets an opportunity to take the Holy Name. Not everybody has sukriti. I was telling you yesterday what sukriti is. It means, "Tad vastu tadiya sevaya. His things for His service."

Many people have Tulasi tree at their home. You put a Tulasi leaf at the lotus feet of Govinda, you put a Tulasi leaf on the chest of Gurudev and Govinda, and when you offer bhog, you also put a Tulasi leaf on the offering. You have heard in one of the kirtans,

ছাপ্পান্ন ভোগ, ছত্রিশ ব্যঞ্জন,
বিনা তুলসী প্রভু এক নাহি মানি ॥

chhappanna bhoga, chhatrisa vyanjana,
vina tulasi prabhu eka nahi mani

The Lord does not accept even one of fifty-six grain offerings or thirty-six vegetable offerings without tulasi leaves.

Even if you cook fifty-six dishes, the Lord will not accept it without a Tulasi leaf. You must offer bhog to the Lord with a Tulasi leaf. That is why, everybody must keep Tulasi in their house.

You can see that they have decorated this place with flowers today. People use so many flowers at sraddha-bari (places where people hold Hindu ceremonies for the diseased led by hired brahmans, etc.), people use so many flowers at different ceremonies, at weddings, people put flowers on dead bodies before going to the cremation ghat. So, not all flowers have the same kind of fortune—not all flowers get to be used for the service of the Lord. Everything must be used for the service of the Lord. Everything that is created in this world, is meant for the service of the Lord, but only devotees can utilise everything in this way. Somebody plants a coconut palm tree and says, "I have planted it, I have been watering it!" but you are not the master who gives life to this palm tree. You cannot save this tree—you can give water, you can take care of the tree, but the only master who gives it life and keeps it alive is the Supreme Lord. That is why,

দৈন্য, আত্মনিবেদন, গোপ্তৃত্বে বরণ ॥
'অবশ্য রক্ষিবে কৃষ্ণ'—বিশ্বাস পালন ॥

dainya, atma-nivedana, goptrtve varana
'avasya raksibe krsna'—visvasa palana

[Limbs of surrender:] "Humility, self-submission, embracing the Lord’s guardianship, maintaining the faith that 'Krishna will certainly protect me.'"

Krishna protects and Krishna maintains. Krishna takes care, Krishna protects. If He does not protect us, nobody can protect us. The Lord is the Supreme Master, nobody except Him can save one.

You can see *** Prabhu in this house. I have known him since he was a little boy of two-three years old. One day, he was walking down the street in the evening with his own son and nephew (his sister's son). A lorry hit them—both small children died and he was taken to hospital and after much treatment he survived. He struggled so much but survived. So, if the Lord does not protect you, if He wants to take you, He will take you—and if He wants to protect you, He will protect you. "Marabi rakhabi, yo ichchha tohara (মারবি রাখবি—যো ইচ্ছা তোহার): whether You keep me` or kill me, it is up to You." If He wants to kill you, He will kill you, and if He wants to keep you, He will keep you.

That Prabhu has much sukriti. When his mother was alive (she is Gurudev's disciple) and once came to the Math perhaps at Gaura Purnima time to do the parikrama, at that time she came to me (it was before 1999 when I took sannyas) and said, "Prabhu, you go to all the big people's houses, will you not come to the house of a poor person like me?" After that I came to her family house with a few devotees. There was no room for us to stay, they stayed in a thatched house at that time and somebody even slept on the veranda outside (it was summer, so we were not cold). She arranged for us to stay in another house. So, I have known this family for a long time. They live near Tarakeshwar. We went to their house for preaching when I was a brahmachari, and gradually, many people there became devotees—there appeared many disciples of Gurudev. Now there is a temple there (Tarakeshwar).

...They have come to this path coming out of Maya's family and living now in Krishna's family. Many devotee came from this area (Basirhat), Uluberia and other places. Those who are fortunate come to this line.

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