Unchaste Faith

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Vaishnav Seva Programme, Bangaon,
31 January 2021, part 12

There is faith in Christianity. What does Christianity say? They say, "Sin the whole week, and come to church once a week—all your sins will be removed." This means that they turn God into our menial servant. Those who worship demigods also do this. What do they say? "Dhanam dehi, vidyam dehi, rupam dehi, bharyam dehi: make me rich, make me clever, make me beautiful, give me a good wife." I want wealth, I want knowledge, I want beauty, I want money, I want my son to have a good job, I want my daughter to have good in-laws. People come to the Lord with all these requests and turn Him into their menial servants. "God, give me all this." Devotee of Lord Krishna never want any of this. They know that it is not necessary to want all this. This is called jnana-sunya-bhakti (devotion that is free from any pursuit of knowledge). Krishna says: "People come to worship Me desiring material happiness (have their children married, to have a house, to have a car, to have money, to have work, etc.), but I am not a fool—why will I give them material things? I will give them My feet instead and make them forget about all material things." On the other hand, it is also said that the Lord does not give Himself so easily—He gives material things instead:

কৃষ্ণ যদি ছুটে ভক্তে ভুক্তি মুক্তি দিয়া ।
কভু ভক্তি না দেন রাখেন লুকাইয়া ॥

krsna yadi chhute bhakte bhukti mukti diya
kabhu prema-bhakti na dena rakhena lukaiya

"If you ask Krishna for anything except devotion, He can give you those things—bhukti, mukti, liberation, and so on—but He will hide devotion from you. You will not get devotion."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Adi-lila, 8.18)

If you come and ask Krishna for something all the time, He will say, "Here, take it!" He will give cars, houses, money and gradually remove devotion (He will hide devotion).

You know, there is one disciple of Srila Sridhar Maharaj, he once sent a letter and a large sum of money to the Math, saying that he was running a restaurant by a slaughterhouse (serving beef). Srila Sridhar Maharaj said, "It is very difficult to digest his money." Can you imagine that? A restaurant by a slaughterhouse! What did he learn from his Guru? Does your guru ever tell you to have anything to do with cow's meat? That is why people think they can sin and just chant the Holy Name in the evening (or go to the church once a week), and all sins will go away. What do the scriptures say?

চারি বর্ণাশ্রমী যদি কৃষ্ণ নাহি ভজে ।
স্বকর্ম্ম করিলেও সে রৌরবে পড়ি মজে ॥

chari varnasrami yadi krsna nahi bhaje
svakarma karileo raurave padi maje

Whatever varna (a priest, fighter, manager, or worker) or ashram (a celibate, householder, withdrawn from the household life, or monk) you may belong to, if you do not worship Krishna but engage in your prescribed duties, you will have to fall into a terrible hell.

Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 22.26

People have no chastity. I have seen some sannyasis from Rama Krishna Mission—they worship Durga, they worship Kali, they worship Dhatri, Annapurna, and Bharat Mata. They chant the Holy Name and say "Bharat Mata ki jay!" They have no chastity. This earth will be demolished one day, but He who was, is, and will be is the Supreme Lord:

ঈশ্বরঃ পরমঃ কৃষ্ণঃ সচ্চিদানন্দবিগ্রহঃ ।
অনাদিরাদির্গোবিন্দঃ সর্ব্বকারণকারণম্ ॥

isvarah paramah krsnah sach-chid-ananda-vigrahah
anadir adir govindah sarva-karana-karanam

"Krishna, who is known as Govinda, is the supreme controller. He has an eternal, blissful, spiritual body. He is the origin of all. He has no other origin, for He is the prime cause of all causes."

(Sri Brahma-samhita, 5.1)

You make the Supreme Lord your menial servant and a bribe-taker. Sometimes, people bribe some officials to get a job. However, both those who give bribes and who take bribes are criminals. Then, what do people do? They come to worship Durga Devi, giving some fruit or some rice and saying, "Here, Devi, take this, please send me money in return." They turn Durga Devi into a bribe-taker. Remember this. Instead of serving the Lord, we turn the Lord into our menial servant. "Dhanam dehi, vidyam dehi, rupam dehi, bharyam dehi, yasam dehi: make me rich, make me clever, make me beautiful, give me a good wife, make me famous." Yet what did Mahaprabhu say?

ন ধনং ন জনং ন সুন্দরীং কবিতাং বা জগদীশ কাময়ে ।
মম জন্মনি জন্মনীশ্বরে ভবতাদ্ভক্তিরহৈতুকী ত্বয়ি ॥

na dhanam na janam na sundarim kavitam va jagadisa kamaye
mama janmani janmanisvare bhavatad bhaktir ahaituki tvayi

"I do not want wealth, I do not want followers, I do not want beautiful women, I do not want to be a poet. I only want causeless devotion to Your lotus feet. Give me that kind of devotion to Your lotus feet so that I could do Your service life after life."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Antya-lila, 20.29)

"I do not want any wealth, I do not want any followers, I do not want a beautiful wife. I only want to have causeless devotion to Your lotus feet birth after birth."

প্রভু তব পাদযুগে মোর নিবেদন ।
নাহি মাগি দেহসুখ বিদ্যা ধন জন ॥
নাহি মাগি স্বর্গ আর মোক্ষ নাহি মাগি ।
না করি প্রার্থনা কোন বিভূতির লাগি ॥

prabhu tava pada-yuge mora nivedana
nahi magi deha-sukha, vidya, dhana, jana
nahi magi svarga ara moksa nahi magi
na kari prarthana kona vibhutira lagi

"O Lord, I am appealing at Your holy lotus feet—I do not pray for bodily pleasure, learning, wealth, or followers. I do not pray for heaven, I do not pray for liberation, and I do not pray for any supernatural powers."

(Sri Siksastakam, 4, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

These are Mahaprabhu's teachings. It is necessary to study His Siksastakam. "I want to have causeless devotion to You, Lord, birth after birth. Even if I am born as a insect, may I be Your devotee. I do not want to become Brahma, I do not want to be the king of heaven, Indra. I do not mind being some insect, bug, or a dog as long as I am a dog at Your devotee's house." Remember this.

"Bhavatad bhaktir ahaituki tvayi" means we only want causeless devotion to the Lord; we do not want any knowledge, wealth or followers.

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