Fighting Misconception

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Kolkata (Jatragachhi), 8 February 2021, part 10

What does the song [Suddha-bhakata-charana-renu] say next?

মৃদঙ্গবাদ্য,শুনিতে মন,
অবসর সদা যাচে ।
গৌর-বিহিতকীর্ত্তন শুনি'
আনন্দে হৃদয় নাচে ॥

mrdanga-vadya sunite mana
avasara sada yache
gaura-vihita kirtana suni'
anande hrdaya nache

My heart always begs for the opportunity to hear the sound of the mrdanga. Hearing the kirtan prescribed by Sri Gaurasundar, my heart dances with joy.

You can hear so many kirtans in this world, but it is necessary to hear the kirtan that was prescribed by Sri Gauranga Mahaprabhu.

What does it say next?

যুগলমূর্ত্তি,দেখিয়া মোর,
পরম আনন্দ হয় ।
প্রসাদ-সেবা,করিতে হয়,
সকল প্রপঞ্চ-জয় ॥

yugala-murti dekhiya mora
parama-ananda haya
prasada-seva karite haya
sakala prapancha jaya

Beholding the Deity forms of the Divine Couple, I feel the greatest joy. By honouring prasad, I overcome the entire material illusion.

Yugala Murti means Radha Krishna—they are the Ones who must be worshipped. If you honour prasadam, material diseases will go away from you. I have told you what avidya means; next, there is asmita, false identification with the body. You think, "I belong to myself," "My son," "My house," "My room," "My wife," "My family," "I have done this," "I have done everything." The Lord says that you do not do anything. Who does everything and who makes everyone do everything? He does everything. He is the master of everything, but you have forgotten Him.

When somebody dies at a house, everything continues running, but they do not water Tulasi trees. They continue eating themselves, but they do not water Tulasi. I went to Bardhaman for collection recently. They would usually give 50 kg rice, but this time they said that the father of the family had died, so they cannot give alms. I asked them, "Where is it written in the scriptures?" They say, "Oh, it is Thursday (it is Laksmi Devi's day), I will not give any alms today." Who does Laksmi Devi serve? She serves Narayan. So, devotees comes to you for the service to Krishna—do you think Laksmi Devi will prohibit you to give them anything? They come to serve Laksmi Devi's husband, and they say they will not give alms on the day of Laksmi Devi (Thursday). And when father dies, all family continues eating, all children are fed, but when somebody comes for the service of the Lord, they say, "Oh, father has died." What have people learnt? They continue doing everything, but they do not give water to Tulasi Devi! They eat, sleep, watch TV, but they will not water Tulasi Devi or serve the Lord! These are their rules—who told these rules? In which scripture does it say to be like that? I am telling what is written in Hari-bhakti-vilas—this is the scripture that contains all the rules and regulations. Where does it say there that you cannot water Tulasi if somebody dies? People do not even die—they only leave the body. I am wearing these clothes now, but tomorrow I will wake up and wear new clothes. If you eat in the clothes, you cannot worship the Lord in these clothes, so you change your clothes. So, just as I change my clothes all the time, I also change bodies. Today, I have a human body, and tomorrow I may have a cow's body, I may become a cat, a goat, a pig, a monkey, a snake, a frog, etc.

Srila Guru Maharaj told: you are hungry now, but when you were an elephant, how many banana trees have you devoured? You were a pig once too. If you tell a pig, "We have some nice paneer rasa today," will the pig eat it? It will not, but if you give it a bucket of stool, it will eat it happily, thinking, "What nice food!" When you pass stool, you do not even want to look behind yourself—you hold your nose. When it was inside your stomach, you do not care, but once it comes out, you hold your nose. You know Srila Raghunath Das Goswami from Adisaptagram—he left everything like stoon and urine. Just as you pass stool and urine and do not even want to look behind at it, he gave up all material things, all material attachments like stool and urine and left. Srila Sanatan Goswami left his minister's job and went to Mahaprabhu. We have also come to this line. We have also left everything and come to Srila Gurudev's lotus feet. We never think about these things. That is why it is said:

'শ্রদ্ধা' শব্দে—বিস্বাস কহে সুদৃঢ় নিশ্চয় ।
কৃষ্ণে ভক্তি কৈলে সর্ব্বকর্ম্ম কৃত হয় ॥

'sraddha'-sabde—visvasa kahe sudrdha nischaya
krsne bhakti kaile sarva-karma krta haya

"Sraddha is firm, determined faith that by service to Krishna all actions are accomplished."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 22.62)

Your debt to your father, mother, rishis (sages), demigods—all debts are cleared if you serve the Lord. Many said to me, "Oh, he has left his parents' service and went away." Yet I have read in the scriptures that if you serve the Lord, then all your debts become cleared (all debts to your father, mother, sages, demigods, etc. all debts are cleared). Can you serve all 330,000,000 demigods? You cannot. You can serve ten-fifteen demigods, but the rest will be unhappy. However, if you serve Krishna, then all worship of demigods is automatically accomplished—you do not have to worship anyone else! You must always remember this.

All right, let us chant now, I will speak later. [His Divine Grace looks at the watch.] Oh, we are singing just one kirtan, but so much time has passed!

[His Divine Grace continues singing 'Suddha-bhakata-charana-renu'.]

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