(4/13) Conditioned Souls' Inaptitude

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Kolkata (Jatragachhi), 8 February 2021, part 4

Many of you come from villages. Have you ever cultivated wheat? If you throw seeds in the soil and do not water them after that, the seeds dry up. In our lives it is also like that: we have got the seed of the creeper of devotion from our gurudev, and the water for that seed is sravan and kirtan. At the same time, what happens if you pour too much water? The seeds become rotten, and the plants die. Sahajiyas pour too much water – they think they have understood everything, so they do not need to do anything (‘I have got initiation from gurudev, so I have got everything!’). They think they have much devotion. That is why we are told that it is necessary to remove our ego:

'আমি ত' বৈষ্ণব', এ বুদ্ধি হইলে
অমানী না হ'ব আমি ।

‘ami ta vaisnava’, e buddhi haile,
amani na ha’ba ami

‘If I think, “I am a Vaishnav,” then I will never stop desiring honour.’

কৃপা কর বৈষ্ণব ঠাকুর ।
সম্বন্ধ জানিয়া, ভজিতে ভজিতে,
অভিমান হউ দূর ॥

krpa kara vaisnava thakura
sambandha janiya, bhajite bhajite,
abhimana hau dura

‘Please be merciful, Vaisnav Thakur! May my ego go away by always worshipping you in full knowledge of the relationship.’

(Sri Kalyan-kalpataru, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

[His Divine Grace drinks some water and remarks] I had given my word that I would come, so I have come, although I was very tired. I have been out since the morning and very busy the whole day today. I went from Kolkata to Vidyanagar, then back to Park Street, Kolkata, then to Ultaganda, then to some other places. By the time I finished, it was already evening. I came back at five o’clock in the afternoon and took some prasadam. Every day it is like this – some days, I take prasadam at four; some days, at five. I took some anukalpa at midday and then came back and took prasadam at five o’clock. I was busy the whole day today, so I said that I might not be able to come because I was not feeling so well. Tomorrow I have to again go to many places in Kolkata, and after that I must go to Tarakeshwar in the afternoon because there is a programme scheduled for the evening. After that, there are programmes scheduled for the following five–six days. Then, I will be preaching in Bardhaman – I will be in Singur on Sunday, and starting from Monday, I will be again in Bardhaman for a week.

I have no time, but they asked me to come on ekadasi, and I said that I would come, I gave my word, but when I called today to say that I was not able to come because I was not feeling well, they told me that everybody had already gathered and it would be bad to cancel the lecture. I told them, ‘Have you not been able to learn anything yourselves? You took initiation so long ago – have you not been able to make anyone fit for preaching? Have you not learnt to preach and speak Hari-katha yourselves?’ Must your guru always come and do everything? There are no people… Gurudev also said, ‘I cannot keep water in a pot with holes.’ This glass here has water in it, but if it had holes, would water stay in it? It is necessary to have a proper vessel (a pot or a glass). We take initiation, but none of us tries to study and practise properly. Nobody is eager to serve, to practise Krishna consciousness. We cannot do anything… Must gurudev always come and do everything, tell me?

There are preachers in different places. For example, I was doing a programme in Hooghly the other day. So many people came, and among them, there must be one thousand disciples who took initiation from me. There is one disciple there who preaches in different places of that area, and I come there only once a year for seven days and make fourteen programmes (usually after Nityananda-trayodasi). This is how the number of devotees is growing there. They come for every festival, and twenty–thirty people take initiation every time.

It is not enough to only take initiation. You must practise properly. I have told you – everybody can take initiation, but not everybody can become a disciple. Do you understand what it means? It is necessary to become a disciple. Disciples are those who can tolerate disciplining (chastisement) and who can mould themselves according to that (who are able to change themselves). Disciples are those who listen to gurudev and do not cross gurudev’s word or order. It is not necessary to understand much more than that. I have just told you – if you pour too much water, the seed will become rotten. It is not necessary to know too much. Some say that they know Krishna, but what is their position? Brahma himself said, ‘Those who say that they know the Lord may know Him, but I know that I do not know Him.’ Brahma, Krishna’s original, first disciple, says, ‘I have not been able to understand the Lord. I could not recognise Him!’ Such are the pastimes of the Lord. He can perform so many pastimes…

Anyhow, let us chant some kirtans now. After that, I will speak some Hari-katha again. [His Divine Grace chants ‘Suddha-bhakata-charana-renu.’]

— : • : —

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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