(13/13) A Test of Faith

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Sitalpur (Bagnan), West Bengal,
31 January 2021, part 13

People pray to Saraswati:

ওঁ সরস্বতি মহাভাগে বিদ্যে কমললোচনে ।
বিদ্যারূপে বিশালাক্ষি বিদ্যাং দেহি নমোহস্তু তে ॥

om sarasvati mahabhage vidye kamalalochane
visvarupe visalaksi vidyam dehi namostute

‘O great Goddess Saraswati, the personified knowledge possessing large lotus eyes! I offer obeisance to you, please give me knowledge.’

They pray to Saraswati, ‘Give me knowledge.’ They pray to Laksmi, ‘Give me money.’ What for? People do charity work, saying, ‘We serve “poor” Narayan.’ Can Narayan ever be poor? Narayan can never be poor, neither can a poor man ever be Narayan – it is offensive both ways. This is jihva-lalasa, the greed of the tongue. People say, ‘Jiva-seva-i Siva-seva. Serving to people is service to Siva.’ They make up all kinds of bogus sayings.

Devotee: They also say ‘Jive prema kare yei jana sei jana sevichhe isvara. Serve God by loving others.’ They call this love for the souls!

Yes, there is also a popular saying, ‘The man is above all, there is nothing above him (sabara upare manusa satya, tahara upare nai; সবার উপরে মানুষ সত্য, তাহার উপরে নাই),’ but we say, ‘The Lord is above all, there is nothing above Him’ (sabara upare Bhagavan, tahara upare nai; সবার উপরে ভগবন্, তাহার উপরে নাই)

‘Serve God by loving others (jive prema kare yei jana sei jana sevichhe isvara; জীবে প্রেম করে যেই জন সেই জন সেবিছে ঈশ্বর)’ – what does ‘loving others’ mean? It means showing compassion for others: love God by showing compassion to others. Krishna serves those who are compassionate to others. The Lord says, ‘If you look after My devotees, I will look after you, you do not need to worry about yourself. But if you are self-sufficient and take care of yourself, then I will not look after you.’

You think that you are your own protectors, but what happened to Draupadi when she thought like this? When she was being disrobed, she was holding her clothes with one hand and calling the Lord with other hand, but the clothes were still being taken off – only when she realised that she could not do anything, she started calling the Lord with both hands upraised and she saw that her clothes were extended (Krishna Himself appeared within her sari). When Radharani went to bring water in a pot with a hundred holes, She went to the river chanting Krishna’s Name, and Krishna closed the holes in the pot with His one hundred fingers. Could anyone see it? Only those who had eyes could see it.

It is necessary to leave everything to Krishna. This is what faith is, that is what surrender is. You say, ‘Who can bring it?’, ‘How will I bring it?’ But you do not do anything! Many say, ‘Oh, gurudev has given me this service, but how will I be able to do it?’ You do not do anything – gurudev does everything! He will do it through you. Gurudev has given you some service, and it is for gurudev to understand whether you have the qualification to do it or not; gurudev can understand whether you can or cannot do it. That is called faith. Faith is the main thing.

There are many kinds of faith – kamala-sraddha (soft, fragile faith), taranga-sraddha (flickering faith), drdha-sraddha (strong faith), sudrdha-sraddha (the strongest faith). For example, you can see that many do not put tilaks, do not wear neck beads because they are shy – this a symptom of weak faith.

You say, ‘I cannot do it,’ but gurudev thinks you are fit to do it and tells you to do it, then you must do the service, you must try your best, and gurudev will do everything. On the other hand, do not get proud, ‘Oh, if I do not do it, then this service will not be done.’ Gurudev serves with ten bodies, so even if you do not do some service, it will still be done (Baladev serves Krishna with ten bodies, and Baladev is gurudev). Service will never be disrupted – even if you do not do it, by hook or by crook it will still be done through somebody else.

Anyhow, much has been said today. I would like to finish here.

[Concluding the programme, His Divine Grace chants ‘E-ghora samsare’, ‘Ke yabi ke yabi re bhai’ and the Hare Krishna maha-mantra, followed by the evening Gaura Arati and recital of Jaya Dhvani.]

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Length: 119 min
Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) In Search of Hidden Treasure
2) Know Your Own Identity First
3) Sambandha Jnana: Launching Pad
4) Utter Desperation
5) Path to Qualification
6) Sincere Devotion
7) Highest and Rarest
8) Rivet Yourself to Sadhu-Sanga
9) Genuine Benefit
10) Great Gift
11) Enter the Land of Faith
12) Unchaste Faith
13) A Test of Faith