(13/13) Stay Connected

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Kolkata (Jatragachhi), 8 February 2021, part 13

Your devotion depends on your faith (sraddha-anusari haya bhakti-adhikari):

'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 a firm, determined faith that by serving Krishna all actions are accomplished.’

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 2.22.62)

First, it is necessary to have sukriti. Do you understand what sukriti means? It means using ‘His things for His service’ (tad vastu tadiya sevaya). When you worship the Ganges, you worship her with the Ganges water. When you give five rupees to the Lord, you are giving the Lord’s money to the Lord. He is the owner of everything in this world, so you must give everything to Him.

Always live like this, and always try to come to the temple. Do not only sit at home. Vaishnavs have opened spiritual universities for you. There are many festivals during the year – you should try to take part in them. You must come. You must keep connection with gurudev. If you take initiation and only sit at home, what will that give you? Come to the temples from time to time. Come sometimes to Nabadwip Dham; sometimes, to Ekachakra Dham; sometimes, to Puri Dham; sometimes, to Vrindavan Dham. I take everyone to these holy places every year. Only this year we did not go because there were no trains due to the coronavirus; otherwise, we always go to Vrindavan for the niyom-seva month, and we go to Puri during the Ratha-yatra time (only last year we did not go – the temple of Lord Jagannath was closed, how would we go?). Circumambulate all the places where Gaura went in the company of devotees (in sadhu-sanga).

সাধুসঙ্গে কৃষ্ণনামে—এই মাত্র চাই ।
সংসার জিনিতে আর কোন বস্তু নাই ॥

sadhu-sange krsna-nama—ei matra chai
samsara jinite ara kona vastu nai

‘I desire only to chant the Name of Krishna in the association of sadhus. There is no other way to conquer this material world.’

(Sri Sri Prema-vivarta, 6.13, Sri Jagadananda Pandit)

I will not take more of your time now. We have thirty–forty temples, and Gurudev has given me the charge of all these temples. I have taken this responsibility on my shoulders, and after Gurudev left, I have had to look after all of them. There are also many new temples: in Ganga Sagar, Tarakeshwar and Midnapore. This year we are opening a new temple in Uluberia (the works are finished now). There are also works going on in Haridwar, we are building a temple there. Soon, on 15 February, we will have a festival in Ekachakra, and after that it will be Gaura Purnima. I have to bear much responsibility, and I have not yet got a fit person who would be able to take some of this burden from me. The person who would be able to take some load off my shoulders has not been created, or prepared, yet. During his lifetime, Gurudev kept me in Nabadwip and would go to preach abroad, but I do not have such a suitable person at hand. That is why I have to live under so much pressure. What service is required where, where there is some problem, where Deities need clothes, where cows lack food, where there are cooks required, where there are cowherd men needed, and so on – I have to manage everything. There is much construction work also, and I have to keep in touch with all the workers, I have to negotiate and argue with them.

Anyhow, please come to the temples. I am staying nearby in Kolkata – I come to Dum Dum Park all the time. Sri Sri Gaura Nitai are there at the Sevak Bhavan (491, Dum Dum Park), and Their service is going on there. You can come there sometimes. Take my phone number and keep in touch. I usually can talk from 10 p.m. to 12 a.m., so you can call me at this time, it is not a problem. I am usually very busy the whole day until 10 p.m. I often go out in the car and spend the whole day going to various places. Keep connection, you have my open invitation.

Please take care of yourselves. May the Lord bless you. As for those who wanted to take initiation, bring them to Ekachakra – I will give them initiations there. It is already late now, so I will not give initiation today…

— : • : —

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Length: 84 min
Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Practise Devotion
2) Land of Religions
3) Seva Vidya
4) Conditioned Souls' Inaptitude
5) Choose Your Association
6) Lost and Languid Souls
7) "Make the Teachings of Sri Guru Non-Different from Your Heart"
8) Price of Independence
9) "Come Back to Your Home"
10) Fighting Misconceptions
11) Goloka at Your Home
12) Ekadasi: Devotional Practice
13) Stay Connected