We Are Neither Enjoyers, Nor Renouncers

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Kolkata, preaching programme,
16 January 2021, part 11
Translated from Bengali

How will attachment and love for service to the Lord come to us? If we do not associate with sadhus, if we do not practise sravan and kirtan, then this attachment and love will never come. Without holy association you can never serve the Lord. Therefore, we must always remember what Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu said in His conversation with Srivas Pandit, what He told Srila Raghunath Das Goswami also. You can remember what happened at Panihati (it is very near to Kolkata). Srila Raghunath Das Goswami had tried to come to Mahaprabhu again and again, but he did not get His mercy. Only after Sriman Nityananda Prabhu gave His blessing (Nityananda Prabhu is guru-tattva, non-different from Sri Gurudev) and told, "Now you can go to Mahaprabhu, you will get His mercy," was Srila Raghunath Das Goswami finally able to come to Mahaprabhu. Srila Raghunath Das Goswami was not interested in family life. His parents married him to a girl who was as beautiful as an angel, hoping to tie him to the family, but he was always aloof. He had no attachment to the material world.

আসক্তিরহিত সম্বন্ধসহিত ।
বিষয়সমূহ সকলি মাধব ॥

asakti-rahita, sambandha-sahita,
visaya-samuha sakali madhava

"When you are free from material attachment and establish the relationship with the Lord, then you will see that everything around you is Lord Madhav Himself."

('Vaishnav ke?' Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur)

We must have no attachment to the material world—we must only know the relationship (sambandha): everything that is created in this world is meant for the service of the Lord. You can see that Tulasi grows everywhere, but it is not everywhere that Tulasi leaves are offered to the Lord. In the same way, not all flowers are offered to the Lord—some flowers are put on dead bodies that are taken to the crematorium. Everyone's fortune is not the same, but everything in this world is His, and everything is meant for His service (tad vastu tadiya sevaya). It is necessary to have sukriti to serve the Lord. There is jnata-sukriti (conscious spiritual merit) and ajnata-sukriti (unconscious spiritual merit). Those who know something can get benefit, and those who do not know can be used for service without their knowing it. For example, if you take some flowers, make garlands, and offer those garlands to a devotee or the Lord, the flower tree does not know anything about this—it does not know that its flowers are being offered at the lotus feet of Govinda, but this is how ajnata-sukriti comes (the tree gets some benefit if its flowers are used in service). Therefore, everything is His, and everything is for His service. Everything that is created in this world is created for the pleasure of the Lord, not for our pleasure. Because we have much ego, we think, "This is my house, and I will enjoy it" "This is my car, I will enjoy it," "This my money, I will enjoy with it." That is why it is said: "Ahankare matta haina, Nitai-pada pasariya, asatyere satya kori mani (অহঙ্কারে মত্ত হৈঞা নিতাই-পদ পাসরিয়া অসত্যেরে সত্য করি' মানি): maddened with pride, forgetting Nitai's feet, I accept untruth as truth."

We always think about how we can enjoy, about what we can do to enjoy, but the truth is that we are neither enjoyers, nor renunciates: we want to neither enjoy anything nor renounce anything. What does this mean? It means that we will use everything in Govinda's service. Many look at me and think, "Oh, Maharaj has a nice car," but this car is not for my enjoyment—I do not use it to go for car rides. You know, I have been staying in Kolkata for many years now, over forty years, but to this day I have never seen the zoo or any museum. When I got out in the car, I go out for service, so I use the car for service only. If I had to go everywhere by train or bus, I would not be able to reach places timely. Therefore, if you can use a car for service, it is good. It is like this with everything that is created in this world. For example, we also travel by plane—we sometimes go abroad for preaching. Our duty is to serve the Lord. Devotees do not know anything except for service to the Lord. We must submit everything for the Lord's service, and we must know nothing except service to the Lord. Just as it is said in Srimad Bhagavad-gita: devotees do not know or understand anything except the Lord. This is our highest aspiration.

সর্ব্বস্ব তোমার চরণে সঁপিয়া
পড়েছি তোমার ঘরে ।
তুমি ত' ঠাকুর, তোমার কুকুর
বলিয়া জানহ মোরে ॥

sarvasva tomara charane sampiya
padechhi tomara ghare
tumi ta' thakura tomara kukura
baliya janaha more

"I have offered everything at Your feet and taken shelter in Your home. You are my Master; please consider me Your dog."

(Saranagati, 19.1)

"You are my Lord; please know me as Your dog. I am your dog." You must remember this.

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