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? When you throw the seeds in the soil, if you do not water those seeds, they dry up. In our life, this water is sravan and kirtan. At the same time, what happens if you give too much water? The seeds will rot, and the plants will die. Sahajiyas pour too much water—they think they have understood everything, so they do not have to do anything ("I have got initiation from Gurudev, so I have got everything!"). They think they have much devotion. That is why it is said:

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

"ami ta' vaisnava," e-buddhi ha-ile,
amani na ha'ba ami

"If I think, 'I am a Vaishnav,' then I will never stop expecting honour from others (I will never become void of the desire for honour)."

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

krpa kara vaisnava thakura
sambandha janiya bhajite bhajite
abhimana hau dura

"O Vaishnav Thakur! Please be merciful! Knowing the true relationship I will worship You and my ego will go far away."

It is necessary to remove your ego...

[His Divine Grace drinks some water and notes:] I had given my word that I would come, but 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 might not be able to come because I was not feeling so well. Tomorrow, I have to again go to different places in Kolkata, and after that I must go to Tarakeshwar in the afternoon (there is a programme there in the evening). After that, there are programmes scheduled for the next five-six days. Then, it will be Bardhaman. I will be in Singur on Sunday, and from Monday I will be again in Bardhaman for a week.

I have no time, but I gave my word—they asked me to come on ekadasi, and I said I would come, but when I called to say that I was not able to come because I was not feeling well, they told me that everybody had already gathered, it would be bad to cancel. I told them: have you not been able to learn anything yourself? 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 yourself? Must Gurudev 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 (pot or glass). We take initiation, but none of us tries to study properly 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. I was doing a programme in Hooghly the other day—so many people came, and among them, one thousand people are all my disciples. There is one disciple there who preaches in different places of that area. I only come there 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? It is necessary to become a disciple. A disciple is the one who can tolerate disciplining (chastisement) and can mould themselves according to that (can change). A disciple is one who listens to Gurudev and does 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 becomes rotten. It is not necessary to know much. Those who say they know Krishna, what is their position? Brahma himself said, "Those who say they know, they may know, but I know that I do not know the Lord." Brahma is Krishna's original, first disciple, and this Brahma 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 times...

Anyhow, let us chant some kirtans now; after that, I will speak some Hari-katha. [His Divine Grace then starts chanting 'Suddha-bhakata-charana-renu'.]

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