Eternal Servants

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Vaishnav Seva Programme, Kolkata,
29 January 2021, part 4

There is a kirtan where it is written very beautifully, "Sisya thakibo sarvada (শিষ্য থাকিব সর্ব্বদা)—I always want to be a disciple." The other day, I got a call from abroad,

"Maharaj," the person said, "I have good news today!"

"What news?" I asked.

"I have given initiation to one person today!" he said.

"Oh?" I said, "You have given initiation, Maharaj? Then, will you give initiation to me?"

"What do you mean?"

"I am always a disciple and I always want to be a disciple," I replied.

I have no desire to be a guru.

সম্বন্ধ জানিয়া ভজিতে ভজিতে
অভিমান হউ দূর ॥

sambandha janiya bhajite bhajite
abhimana hau dura

"Knowing the true relationship I will worship You and my ego will go far away."

When it comes to Vaishnav seva, we must remember that "Chhadiya vaisnava-seva nistara payechhe keba (ছাড়িয়া বৈষ্ণব-সেবা নিস্তার পায়েছে কেবা): Without service to the Vaishnav, you cannot get any relief." If you cannot serve devotees, if you have not been able to serve Vaishnavs and your Guru, then your life has passed in vain. Srila Guru Maharaj told: how many become disciples? Being a disciple means being able to tolerate and accept Gurudev's chastisement and mould yourself according to that. Yet we do not have such qualities. People come to the temple and complain that they are not given nice food, they are not given nice clothes or something. It is said that even if somebody steals and eats prasadam, they do it and commit a sin, but if you see it and go tell about it to others, this is an offence. These are Srila Prabhupad's words. If you see somebody steal prasad and eat it, you must not tell others about it—if you tell about it to other people, this is a greater offence than stealing. That is why, we are told:

গ্রাম্যকথা না শুনিবে, গ্রাম্যবার্ত্তা না কহিবে ।
ভাল না খাইবে আর ভাল না পরিবে ॥
অমানী মানদ হঞা কৃষ্ণনাম সদা ল'বে ।
ব্রজে রাধাকৃষ্ণ সেবা মানসে করিবে ॥

gramya-katha na sunibe, gramya-varta na kahibe
bhala na khaibe ara bhala na paribe
amani manada hana krsna-nama sada la'be
vraje radha-krsna seva manase karibe

"Do not listen to the mundane talks, do not listen to the mundane news. Do not eat fancy food, do not wear fancy clothes. Do not expect honour to yourself, but offer all respect to others. Always chant the Holy Name of Krsna, and in your mind serve Radha-Krsna."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Antya-lila, 6.236-237)

Do not talk about mundane things, do not discuss mundane news. There is no need for any fancy food, there is no need for any fancy arrangement for bathing, etc. We are always busy with eating, sleeping, fearing, and mating. "I will eat well, I will wear nice clothes, and I will take very good care of my health"—we always worry about this and waste our time.

দিন যায় মিছা কাজে নিশা নিদ্রাবশে ।
নাহি ভাবি মরণ নিকটে আছে বসে ॥

dina yaya michha kaje nisa nidra-base
nahi bhavi marana nikate achhe base

My days are passed in useless work and nights are wasted on sleeping. It never occurs to me that there is death sitting next to me.

('Durlabha manava janma labhiya' by Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur)

Our days and time go away as we are endlessly busy with work and sleeping, but we never know when we will leave this world. We have not got any understanding of who we are—we think that this body and "I" are the same thing, we do not know who we are. When asked, we say, "I am this and this Ray," "I am this and this Biswas," "I am this and this Sarkar," "I am this and this Das." We think that this is who we are, but when will our heart and mind become clean? When will we think that "I am an eternal servant of Lord Krishna"?

'কৃষ্ণ-নিত্যদাস'—জীব তাহা ভুলি' গেল ।
এই দোষে মায়া তার গলায় বান্ধিল ॥

'krsna-nitya-dasa'—jiva taha bhuli' gela
ei dose maya tara galaya bandhila

"When the jiva soul makes the mistake of forgetting that it is an eternal servant of Krishna, Maya captures the soul by its neck."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 22.24)

We forget that we are eternal servants of Krishna—we only remember it for a few moments. One man took initiation from Gurudev and lived for ten-twelve years in Vrindavan; after that, he said, "I will not stay at the temple, please take this service from me." I told him, "Prabhu, when you took initiation from Gurudev, you took the beads saying you are an eternal servant of Lord Krishna, but were you a servant of Lord Krishna for ten years only?" You have taken the beads—are you a servant of Lord Krishna or are you an eternal servant of Krishna? Which?

We are eternal servants of Lord Krishna—this is what we forget, and as soon as we forget it, Maya attacks us. What is Maya? Maya is that which is not eternal, not true (asat). That is which is eternal, pure and true is not Maya. The problem is that we take false things (asat) for the truth (sat). Where does Maya get her power? From the Lord. Her duty is to take us away from the service to the Lord and engage us in her own service—make us her servants. When you put a piece of iron into fire, the iron becomes hot and if you keep it longer in the fire, it becomes red—if you touch that hot iron to someone's body, it will burn. Before, the iron did not burn, so why does it burn now? Because there is fire inside it. Where does the fire come from? The iron gets its power (fire) from the original fire. In the same way, Maya also gets her power from the Lord and then removes us from the Lord's service. This is how we end up always thinking, "My house," "My room," "My son," "My family"—we always flounder amidst all this and live in the prison of Maya. Yet there is a way out...

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