(6/13) Life In Lord's Family

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

[His Divine Grace resumes the class after kirtans.]

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 reddish soles of the holy lotus feet of my Divine Master Om Vishnupad Jagad-guru Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj begging him for his causeless mercy, aspiring to serve him; 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 lowly soul.

What day is bad for us? A bad day is a day without Hari-katha. In other words, a bad day for us is the day when we cannot hear or 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 বলিতে নারা

dinera madhye abala-tabala
kata pachala padite para
tara madhye tumi ki ekbara
govinda balite nara

‘How much nonsense you can talk every day! How many idle talks you have! Can you not say the Name of Govinda even once?’

How much people speak! When the Lord takes your mouths away, you will not be able to speak again – He will take your power of speech away and send you, for example, to cows’ bodies, dogs’ bodies or goats’ bodies. 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 considers offences: when one who commits ten offences of the Holy Name takes the Name of Krishna, it produces no transformation in them.’

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 1.8.24)

‘Hare Krishna’ cannot come to the mouths 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 sannyasis; at that time, one sanodiya brahman asked Him, ‘Prabhu, there are so many scholars in Kasi – they have studied the Vedas and Vedanta so much, they know all the Vedas, Vedanta and other scriptures by heart – but why does the Holy Name of Krishna not come to their mouths? What is the reason for this?’ Mahaprabhu replied, ‘Because 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 considers offences: when one who commits ten offences of the Holy Name takes the Name of Krishna, it produces no transformation in them.’

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 1.8.24)

Somebody can chant the Holy Name, but if you hit them in the stomach, they will cry, ‘Baba! Ma!’ [‘Father! Mother!]’ – you will not hear ‘Hare Krishna’ anymore. So, the Holy Name does not come to all people’s mouths. 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 mouths of those who are offenders of the Holy Name of Krishna.’ After that, Mahaprabhu asked that sanodiya brahman to invite Prakasananda Saraswati to a gathering. At that time, Mahaprabhu explained all this in the presence of Prakasananda Saraswati, and after a long discussion and debate about scriptures, everyone surrendered to Mahaprabhu.

In the end, Mahaprabhu said, ‘I came to Kasi with a basket of Harinam to sell the Holy Name, but nobody wanted to buy it. I gave the Holy Name freely to anyone and everyone, but they still did not want to take it…’ So, not everybody gets an opportunity to take the Holy Name. Not everybody has such sukriti. I was telling you yesterday about what sukriti is. It means, ‘Tad vastu tadiya sevaya (তদ বস্তু তদীয় সেবায়). His things – for His service.’

Many people have Tulasi trees at home. You can put a Tulasi leaf at the lotus feet of Govinda, you can put a Tulasi leaf on the chest of gurudev and Govinda, and when you offer bhoga, you should 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 byanjana
bina tulasi prabhu eka nahi mani

‘The Lord does not accept any of fifty-six grain offerings or thirty-six vegetable offerings without Tulasi leaves.’

(Sri Chandrasekhara Acharya)

Even if you cook fifty-six dishes, the Lord will not accept any of it without a Tulasi leaf. You must offer bhoga to the Lord with Tulasi leaves. That is why everybody must keep Tulasi at their houses.

You can see that they have decorated this place with flowers today. Many flowers are used at sraddha-baris (places where people hold Hindu ceremonies for the deceased, led by hired brahmans, etc.), at different ceremonies, 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 in 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. For example, suppose you plant a coconut palm tree. You think, ‘I have planted it, I have been watering it!’ but you are not the master who gives life to this tree. You cannot make this tree grow: you can water it, you can take care of it, 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, accepting that the Lord is your maintainer, keeping faith that “Krishna will certainly protect.”’

(Saranagati, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

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, so 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. One day, he was walking down the street in the evening with his son and nephew (his sister’s son). A lorry hit them – both small children died, and he was taken to hospital. After much treatment he survived. He struggled very 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 তোহারা): whether You keep me or kill me, it is up to You’ (Saranagati). If He wants to kill you, He will kill you, and if He wants to keep you alive, He will keep you alive.

Actually, that Prabhu has much sukriti. His mother was Gurudev’s disciple. One time, she came to the Math – perhaps, at Gaura Purnima time, for the parikrama; it was before 1999 (before I took sannyas). At that time, she came to me and asked, ‘Prabhu, I know that you go to all big people’s houses, but will you not come to the house of a poor person like me?’ After that, I came to her family’s house with a few devotees. They lived in a thatched house at that time, so there was no room for us to stay in, and somebody even slept outside, on the veranda (it was summer, so it was not cold). She arranged for us to stay in another house.

So, I have known this family for a long time. They live near Tarakeswar. We went to their house for preaching when I was a brahmachari, and eventually, many people from that area became devotees. In this way there appeared many disciples of Gurudev, and now there is a temple in Tarakeswar. They have left Maya’s family and come to this path, and now they live in Krishna’s family. Many devotee have also come from this area here (Basirhat) as well as from Uluberia and other places. Only fortunate souls come to this line…

— : • : —

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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