Lacking Spirituality

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Singur (West Bengal), 5 February 2021, part 10
Translated from Bengali

[Following kirtans, His Divine Grace resumes the class:]

মূকং করোতি বাচালং পঙ্গুং লঙ্ঘয়তে গিরিম্ ।
যৎকৃপা তমহং বন্দে শ্রীগুরুং দীনতারণম্ ॥

mukam karoti vachalam pangum langhayate girim
yat krpa tam aham vande sri-gurum dina-taranam

"The dumb can speak, the lame can climb a hill—all it takes is mercy from Gurudev."

(Bhavartha Dipika)

First, I am offering my full obeisance at the lotus feet of my Divine Master Om Vishnupad Jagad-guru Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj begging him for his causeless mercy, aspiring for his service; after that, I am offering my full obeisance to all assembled guru-varga, godbrothers, to all the listeners, to all the motherly lady devotees, and all the devotees. I am offering my obeisance at your holy feet and praying for your mercy to this low soul.

You have heard today some glorification of the Lord. Please listen carefully. [There is much clamour and noisy commotion in the audience.]

দিনের মধ্যে আবল-তাবল
কত পচাল পাড়িতে পর
তার মধ্যে কিন্তু তুমি একবার
গোবিন্দ বলে আর কথা বলিব না

dinera madhye abala-tabala
kata pachala parite para
tara madhye kintu tumi ekbara
govinda bale, ara katha baliba na

"All day you talk all kinds of nonsense, how much idle talk you engage in! But find time amidst all that to chant the Name of Govinda, do not talk about other things!"

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)

Prabhupad Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur says, "O mind, what kind of pauper are you? Are you lacking bhojan (food) or bhajan (Krishna consciousness)?" Now is the time for prasadam, and so many more people have come. You have come to this world to indulge your material senses, have you not? But we do not come to this world for this!

ভজিব বলিয়া এসে সংসার-ভিতরে ।
ভুলিয়া রহিলে তুমি অবিদ্যার ভরে ॥

bhajiba baliya ese samsara-bhitare
bhuliya rahile tumi avidyara bhare

"You came into this world saying, 'O Lord, I will serve You', but, having forgotten this promise, you have remained in ignorance."

We came to this world saying we would serve the Lord, but we have forgotten everything due to our ignorance. I have told you before—we must accept what is favourable to devotion and we must give up what is unfavourable. There are talks about the Lord going on here, but you are obstructing it. Those who obstruct Hari-katha and service of the Lord are offenders at the holy lotus feet of the Lord. You are making offence to Him about whom we are talking here. You have got your mouth to speak about Him, but we avoid speaking about the Lord and only know to speak about our own selves. Satisfying the whims of your mind is not Krishna consciousness. Krishna consciousness is following the Guru, the Vaishnavs, serving the Guru, the Vaishnavs, and satisfying them.

ছাড়িয়া বৈষ্ণব-সেবা নিস্তার পায়েছে কেবা

chhadiya vaisnava-seva nistara payechhe keba

"Without service to the Vaishnav, you cannot get any relief."

Who can get any relief without service to Vaishnavs? Therefore, our religion is jive daya, Name ruchi, Vaishnava seva. We must serve Vaishnavs—if we cannot serve the Lord, our Guru and Vaishnavs, we will not be able to save ourselves from this illusory environment.

মায়ারে করিয়া জয় ছাড়ান না যায় ।
সাধু-গুরুর কৃপা বিনা না দেখি উপায় ॥

mayare kariya jaya chhadana na yaya
sadhu-gurur krpa vina na dekhi upaya

"It is not possible to conquer maya by engaging in maya. I see no other way to get relief except for the mercy of sadhus."

Unless we can get the mercy of our Guru and the sadhus, we cannot overcome this illusory world.

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