A Word of Warning

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Nrisingha Palli, 3 February 2021, part 9
Translated from Bengali

[His Divine Grace reads some parts from Guidance 4:]

It is written here about bhakti-pratikul. Do you know what is bhakti-pratikul, unfavourable to devotion? It is the six urges and gossiping about others, criticising others.

kahare na kare ninda, 'krsna krsna' bale
ajeya chaitanya sei jinibeka hele

"Those who do not offend anyone and always chant the Holy Name of Lord Krishna conquer unconquerable Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu."

(Sri Chaitanya-bhagavata, 2.10.312)

Never criticise anyone.

"Those who do not practise even one of the devotional practices (hearing, chanting, remembering, Deity worship), are non-devotees; you should keep away from them."

"You cannot get sadhu-sanga without giving up asat-sanga (you cannot get proper good association without giving up inauspicious bad association)." Always leave bad association.

"There is less possibility to have bad association at the temple, but if somebody gossips, talks too much, criticises others, discusses others, then their association is bad and must definitely be given up. They are greatly unfortunate—they sin and commit offences, that is why they do not feel enthusiasm to practise devotional life, they only suffer from depression, melancholy, danger and trouble."

"If there is no feeling of any relationship with one’s Gurudev, there is no spiritual benefit—there is only devilry and wickedness. It is impossible to practise spiritual life or serve the Lord without becoming a proper disciple, neither can you get the Lord if you do not become a disciple. When you start practising and developing the relationship with your Gurudev, you will attain spiritual benefit and progress on the path to the transcendental world."

We must give advice to ourselves, not to others. If you keep listening about these things, if you keep saying these things, then you will start thinking about your own qualification.

What is the use living a very long life? Tell me. Do you know what Gurudev said? Even if you live ten years, live and practise Krishna consciousness, and if you live a long life but do not practise Krishna consciousness, there is no use living a hundred years.

Moreover, you can see how *** practises Krishna consciousness—what sort of taste does he get? He goes to those people to eat nice food, but those people are not initiated. It is said in the scriptures,

বিষয়ীর অন্ন খাইলে মলিন হয় মন ।
মলিন মন হৈলে, নহে কৃষ্ণ-নাম গ্রহণ ॥

visayira anna khaile malina haya mana
malina mana haile, nahe krsna-nama grahana

"If you take food that comes from materialistic people, your mind becomes contaminated. When your mind is contaminated, you cannot chant the Name of Krishna."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Antya-lila, 6.278)

He goes to that house, but they cook meat, fish there. I have been to that house, but I never eat there, I do not even take their water. I come with my own bottle of water. This is the prescription of the scriptures. If you go everywhere and eat randomly, then the scriptures say that your mind will become contaminated and you will forget Krishna consciousness. What for does one go there? Because tongue is greedy, but it only increases their desires.

জিহ্বার লালসে যেই ইতি-উতি ধায় ।
শিশ্নোদরপরায়ণ সে কৃষ্ণ নাহি পায় ॥

jihvara lalase yei iti-uti dhaya
sisnodara-parayana se krsna nahi paya

"One who is subservient to the tongue and who thus goes here and there, devoted to the genitals and the belly, cannot attain Krishna."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 3.6.227)

If you follow the urge of your tongue and stomach, your mind will be always fickle. You will always want to eat more.

"If you run down the path of devotion at a very high speed, you can meet an accident and all your ten-year’s practice will be destroyed. A car can be going at a very high speed, but if it meets an accident on the road, it will be crushed to pieces. Similarly, it is very difficult to progress on the path of devotion—it is very easy to go down the hill, but it is difficult to go uphill. It takes so much time to go up, but you can go down within a moment."

Time gets wasted. It is said in the scriptures,

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

But people here are attached to fish, meat. They only know how to eat. There are so many wonderful vegetarian dishes, but we do not like to eat that.

"Srila Prabhupad used to say, 'You have been given a ticket to Delhi, but before reaching Delhi you get off in Bardhaman. This is your loss. People want to practise Krishna consciousness, but when they do not get the result, they get injured. You leave your home and come here, but if you cannot get love and devotion, if you cannot serve properly, then your life passes in vain.'"

"Gurudev can save his disciple from fire. It is difficult to understand how and when one does service, but if a disciple comes across some thorns, this is very distressing. Vaisnava-aparadha is a great hindrance on the path of devotion. Do I recognise who is a Vaisnav and who is not? Therefore, if you behave inappropriately with Vaisnavs, you will face thorns on the path of devotion. What is there left if you commit an offence at the feet of Gurudev? Your devotional life will burn to ashes."

Always remember this.

একলা ঈশ্বে কৃষ্ণ, আর সব ভৃত্য ।
যারে যৈছে নাচায়, সে তৈছে করে নৃত্য ॥

ekala isvara krsna, ara saba bhrtya
yare yaiche nachaya, se taichhe kare nrtya

"Lord Krishna alone is the supreme controller, and all others are His servants. They dance as He makes them do so."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Adi-lila, 5.142)

"Sri Krsna is everyone’s object of service—He is the only worshippable Person, everybody is striving to serve Him. Some pick flowers, some strings flower garlands, some worship the Deity, some cook, some chant kirtan, some go on collection, some sweep, some wash the dishes, some distribute prasad—everyone contributes to His happiness. Everyone does different kinds of service according to their individual qualification and taste. All jiva souls are His servants and maidservants, and everyone engages in different services of the Lord, that is why there is no conflict among servitors."

"There is no quarrel, rivalry, envy and jealousy towards each other. Vrajendra-nandan Sri Krsna is the Lord of all Lords and all are His servants. If everyone has such a vision, then there will be no rivalry, envy, fighting and quarrelling. 'All are the Lord’s servants.' Therefore, do not criticise or offend anyone, do not be jealous of anyone, do not hate, envy or spite anyone. Those who have become firmly fixed in servitude to Krsna, do not have any kind of separate vision. Vaisnavs think that everyone is a creature of the Lord. King of heaven Indra, God of Moon Chandra, God of Sun Surya, God of Wind Varuna, et.al. all serve the Lord. 'Prabhura arati kare chandra o tapana. Moon and Sun do the arati of the Lord.' There are so many demigods and demigoddesses, but their purpose is one. However, everybody’s function is not the same. Demigods, demigoddesses, Brahma, Siva, governors of different planets, et.al.—they all do their appointed service.

Many forget this. They think somebody makes cow dung patties, somebody washes the dishes and laugh, but this is wrong. They are also servitors. If you remember this, then you will not be able to criticise anyone, and you should never criticise anyone.

Sri Radharani does the puja of Krishna pretending that She is doing the puja of Surya. She does not show disrespect to Surya (the God of Sun)—She prays to him for Krishna-prema. Vraja-basis and Vaisnavs do not dismiss Lord Siva—they pray to him, 'O Sambhu! You always chant the Holy Name of Krishna with your five mouths. You have so much devotion and love for Krishna, please give us such love too.'"

Vaishnavs worship Siva too.

Read this book. Did you not like what you have heard? Is what is written here not true?

[His Divine Grace then chants 'Sarvasva tomara' and 'Hari Haraya Nama Krsna' and recites Jaya Dhvani, concluding thus the evening class.]

— : • : —

{ 2001  |   2002  |   2003  |   2005  |   2009  |   2010  |   2011  |   2012 }
{ 2013  |   2014  |   2015  |   2016  |   2017  |   2018  |   2019  |   2020  |   2021 }

• Listen to the audio or download (4.8 Mb, 17 min)