(7/13) Not So Fast, Not So Cheap

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Basirhat, 13 January 2021, part 7
Translated from Bengali

When I left home and came to the temple, my previous family had not got any message or letter from me – they did not know where I was for twelve–thirteen years. They even did my sraddha ceremony thinking that I was dead. Later, they got to know that I had taken sannyas, and many of them hated me for that. I used to work as a college teacher, and they despised me for quitting that job and joining a temple. My mother heard so much criticism from my brothers. In the end, she left the world and got some peace, but all my aunties suffered so much – they all died crying and suffering because of the problems in their families. There is a temple now in that place; a very good thing has been done there. It is said in the scriptures that if at any house a son becomes a sannyasi, twenty-four generations get liberation. When I left my material life and came to the temple, I came to Gurudev wearing just my clothes, and Gurudev has made me so big – I travel all over the world, and the whole world is now in my hand…

It is actually great fortune to be able to practise Krishna consciousness.

অল্প ভাগ্যে সেবা নাহি হয়
কোটি জন্ম থাকলে ভাগ্য
বিষয় ছেড়ে হয় বৈরাগ্য

alpa bhagye seva nahi haya
koti janma thakle bhagya
visaya chhede haya vairagya

‘Service does not come by just a little fortune. It takes ten million births of good fortune to become renounced and give up this material world.’

I am not forcing you to leave your families. I did not have my own family (I did not get married), so I left and came to the temple. Vishnupriya Devi gave up so much in her life, she even gave up Mahaprabhu (Nimai) – she let Him leave…

Today is the day when Mahaprabhu left His home. Do you know what He said? ‘Ami yai yai mane kari, ami yaite nahi pari – maha-maya pichanete dhaya! (আমি যাই যাই মনে করি যাইতে, আমি যাইতে নাহি পারি—মহামায়া পিছনেতে ধায় ।)’ The Lord said, ‘I have decided that I will leave, but I could not! I want to leave this material world, but Maya is always pulling Me back!’ Tomorrow in the morning He will reach the temple of Keshav Bharati. Gurudev told me about the conversation that took place between them on this day. I asked Gurudev once, ‘Keshav Bharati spoke to Mahaprabhu the whole day and night. What did they speak about?’ Then, Gurudev told about it slowly and in detail, chanting the glory of this pastime. That conversation was like that.

‘You have come to take sannyas,’ Keshav Bharati said, ‘but sannyas is prohibited in Kali-yuga. Moreover, You are only twenty-four years old! How can You take sannyas at this age? You should be at least fifty…’

‘Prabhu, all right, let us say that I am fifty years old now,’ Nimai Visvambhar replied.

‘Fifty? Even if You are fifty, You have not conquered the faults of pancha-rasa (five material tastes)!’

These five tastes are the enjoyment of beauty (eyes), taste (tongue), smell (nose), sound (ears) and touch (skin). These five tastes must be always controlled. We are always attracted to beautiful things. Suppose there are two cars going down the road – one is new and beautiful and the other one is old and ugly; which of the cars will your eyes follow? Suppose there are two girls walking down the street, one is dark and another one is a beauty; where will your eyes fall? You will look at the beautiful girl. Is it right or not? Eyes always want to see beautiful things. What is enjoyment through taste? Have you ever seen ants in a tin of gur (molasses)? Sometimes you open a tin and see that there are so many ants in it – they come there on their own, and as they start eating, they think, ‘I will eat more, I will eat more!’ In the end, they eat more and more until they die in the tin. They are destroyed by their own greed for tasty food. Enjoyment through the sound is also like that. I have seen some tamed elephants – people control them through sound. The attraction to touch and smell is also like that.

Then, Mahaprabhu said, ‘All right, I am sixty now.’

‘Even if You are sixty,’ Keshav Bharati replied, ‘if You have not conquered the six enemies, You cannot take sannyas.’

What are these six enemies? Kama (lust), krodha (anger), lobha (greed), moha (illusion), mada (madness), matsarya (envy). Lust means you always want more, want more, you always have desires, you want to enjoy more and more. Anger. Who should you be angry with? With those who are against devotees, nothing else. Greed must be only greed for Hari-katha. You can also be greedy for the prasadam of the Lord. Madness means ego – somebody is proud of their money, somebody is proud of their bodily beauty, somebody is proud of their qualities, and so on. We always take untruth for truth…

One time, when I was preaching in Bardhaman, I went to one devotee’s house. He had just made a very big two-storey house with marble floors, etc. I was to stay in that house for two–three days, and I told him, ‘Prabhu, many devotees are inviting me to take prasadam at their houses,’ but he said, ‘No, no, you must stay at my house the whole day! I will feed you three times a day.’ This is ego. Everybody wants to make a programme at their houses in the morning or afternoon – I told him that we could make a programme at his house in the evening, when there would be more people, but he did not like that, ‘No, you must make all programmes here at my house. Come, come, have a look! What a beautiful house I have made! I have not taken a single rupee from my father, I have made it all myself!’ Next morning, that devotee went outside to clean the garden, and when he cut some small plant, he saw that there was a snake. The snake bit him on the hand. There is a hospital three miles from his house, but he did not even get time to reach that hospital. They called an ambulance, put him in the car, but he died before they could reach the hospital.

So, if you think, ‘This is my money’, ‘This is my house’, ‘This is my car’ – this is ego. Then, there is also matsarya, envy. The Lord says, ‘I have given a place for everything, but I will not give any place for envy.’ Do you understand what ‘matsarya’ means? It is envy, jealousy. The actual meaning is when you cannot stand seeing others doing good. For example, when a boy passes an exam very well, you are supposed to be happy for him, but instead you get unhappy, or, on the contrary, you feel very happy if he fails. Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur says, ‘Para-sukha duhkhi. When I see others happy, I feel unhappy; and when I see others unhappy, I get very happy.’ This is our situation. ‘Asesa kamana hrdi majhe mora. I have unlimited desires in my heart.’ We always want more, more, more. ‘Krodhi dambha-parayana. We are angry and very proud.’

অশেষ কামনা, হৃদি মাঝে মোর,
ক্রাধী দম্ভপরায়ণ ।
মদমত্ত সদা, বিষয়ে মোহিত,
হিংসা-গর্ব্ব বিভূষণ ॥

asesa kamana, hrdi majhe mora,
krodhi dambha-parayana
mada-matta sada, visaye mohita,
himsa-garba vibhusana

‘My heart is filled with endless desires. Angry and hypocritical, I am always intoxicated, mad and engrossed in the material world. Pride and envy are my ornaments.’

(Saranagati, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

Always remember this.

Then Mahaprabhu said, ‘All right, suppose I am already ninety.’

‘If You cannot practise the nine kinds of devotional practice (nava-vidha bhakti), You cannot take sannyas even when You are ninety.’

What are the nine kinds of devotion? You know that there are nine islands in Nabadwip. Do you know which island represents which kind of devotion? Sravanam (listening about the Lord), kirtanam (chanting the Lord’s Name and glories), smaranam (remembering the Lord), pada-sevanam (serving the Lord’s lotus feet), archanam (worshipping the Lord’s Deity), vandanam (offering obeisances and prayers to the Lord), dasyam (serving the Lord as a servant), sakhyam (serving the Lord as a friend), atma-nivedanam (submitting yourself to the Lord). Each of these nine kinds of devotion are practised on a corresponding island of Nabadwip. For example, our old temple in Koladwip is a place of pada-sevanam, and our new temple in Godrumdwip (Nrisingha Palli) is a place of kirtanam. You can see the new book Sri Nabadwip Dham Mahatmya-mukta-mala, all this is explained and described there. Nabadwip is an eight-petalled lotus with Antardwip in the middle… You should buy and read this book – if you do not read, then what was the use making this book? Sripad Bhakti Pramode Puri Maharaj said once, ‘You are printing so many books, but people will end up using them to wrap chanachur.’ This is so true. These days people only read their mobile phones. In Midnapore there is a boy who was not even nineteen when he went blind by looking into his phone all the time. People get used to their mobile phones so much that they cannot even chant on their beads after that. You must stop this addiction to mobile phones. Do you understand? Only use your phone when it is necessary.

So, Keshav Bharati said that even at ninety it is not possible to take sannyas. Then, Mahaprabhu said, ‘OK, I am one hundred now!’

‘Even if You are one hundred,’ Keshav Bharati replied, ‘if You cannot control Your ten senses, You cannot take sannyas even then!’

It is necessary to control your ten senses. People are so proud, ‘I have conquered the whole world!’ Yes, you have, but you cannot even conquer your own self! Have you conquered your eyes? There are five senses that perform action and five senses that acquire knowledge. The five karmendriya are feet, hands, rectum, genitals, mouth (pada, pani, payu, upastha, vak – পদ, পাণি, পায়ু, উপস্থ, বাক); and the five jnanendriya are eyes, ears, nose, tongue, skin (chaksu, karna, nasika, jihva, tvak – চক্ষু, কর্ণ, নাসিকা, জিহ্বা, ত্বক্). So, what Keshav Bharati was saying is that until and unless you can subdue all these senses, you cannot take sannyas.

This is the conversation that took place between Mahaprabhu and Keshav Bharati. Those who can control all these things can attain everything.

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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