(1/13) In Search of Hidden Treasure

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Sitalpur (Bagnan), West Bengal,
31 January 2021, part 1

We are present here today by the mercy of Sri Gurupadpadma. It is a very auspicious day, a day of vaishnav-seva. Today is also the appearance day of Srila Gopal Bhatta Goswami Prabhu and the disappearance day of Srila Ramachandra Kaviraj. There are six goswamis; Srila Gopal Bhatta Goswami is one of them. We have gathered here in this village today on the invitation of Sri Malini Devi Dasi to speak some Bhagavad-katha.

It is our great fortune that sadhus, gurus and Vaishnavs come here. Without a great fortune, you cannot come and meet with them. You can hear all kinds of things in this world – there are so many talks, so many discussions, so much criticism going on in this world – but there is a dire scarcity of Bhagavad-katha (discourses about the Lord), and there is a dire scarcity of devotees who would speak and listen to such Bhagavad-katha.

মহান্ত-স্বভাব এই তারিতে পামর ।
নিজ-কার্য্য নাহি তবু যান তার ঘর ॥

mahanta-svabhava ei tarite pamara
nija karya nahi tabu yana tara ghara

‘It is the innate nature of great souls to deliver vile fallen souls. Great souls never come to their homes for any personal purpose.’

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 2.8.39)

These great souls – the devotees of Lord Krishna, the devotees of the Supreme Lord, the devotees of Sri Guru – come to everyone’s houses to help us and bring us some benefit.

করিতেছ উপকার, যাতে পর উপকার,
লভে জীব শ্রীকৃষ্ণ-সেবায় ।

karitechchha upakara, yate para upakara,
labhe jiva sri-krsna-sevaya

‘You are helping others, and through your help, other souls get a chance to serve Lord Krishna.’

(Acharya Vandana)

Devotees render such help to others that as a result of that help, conditioned jiva souls who live in the bondage of illusory environment can take part in the service of Lord Krishna.

Many people help in many ways – they give others money, they give others blankets and do other charitable work. But what is the food (the necessity) of the soul? Many can give you food for your body – dal, rice, vegetables, and so on, but is it real help? You gave somebody five kilograms of rice yesterday, the person is happy, but if you do not give them anything today, they will chastise you. On the other hand, if you give them too much rice, it will rot and get wasted, but if you give them too little rice, they will swear you. Problems never end. However, the gift that Mahaprabhu and devotees gave to this world – the gift that our guru-varga has given – is an extremely hidden treasure! Hearing the news of this hidden treasure, people from all over the world (you can see Mexican, Venezuelan, Colombian and American devotees sitting here in front of me) come to this land of India to search for it.

The people of this country always want to go abroad in search of dollars, euros and wealth – they wander around looking for dollars, but people from all those covetable countries, on the contrary, come here, to this country, to search for the wealth that is kept within India. As the saying goes, there is always some darkness underneath a candlelight. We live in India, but we dismiss and throw away that very wealth that is right here in our own country – we do not search for that priceless wealth. We only live in fear, always thinking about eating, sleeping and enjoying. This is how we spend our entire lives. We have got these human births, but we are dismissing their value. We never think about the meaning of this birth – we do not try to know what this life is for and how to fulfil its meaning. We only worry about the same things that even animals do, about the things that even animals look for – eating, sleeping, and so on. If people live in the same way as animals, then there is no difference between them and animals.

আহার-নিদ্রা-ভয়-মৈথুনং চ
সামান্যম এতৎ পশুভির নরাণাম ।
ধর্ম্মো হি তেষাম অধিকো বিশেষো
ধর্ম্মেণ হীনাঃ পশুভিঃ সমানাঃ ॥

ahara-nidra-bhaya-maithunam cha
samanyam etat pasubhir naranam
dharmo hi tesam adhiko viseso
dharmena hinah pasubhih samanah

‘Eating, sleeping, breeding and defence – these four principles are common to both human beings and animals. The distinction between human life and animal life is that man can search after God but an animal cannot. Therefore, those who do not feel any urge to search for God are no better than animals.’

(Hitopadesh, 25)

It is said in the scriptures that people who live without any religious principles (without any dharma) are equal to animals. This is how we have become like animals – we live always worrying about eating, sleeping fearing and breeding, but we do not look for that which is real.

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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