Surrender and Practise

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Tarakeshwar, 10 February 2021, part 9

ব্রহ্মাণ্ড ভ্রমিতে কোন ভাগ্যবান্ জীব ।
গুরু-কৃষ্ণ-প্রসাদে পায় ভক্তিলতা-বীজ ॥

brahmanda bhramite kona bhagyavan jiva
guru-krsna-prasade paya bhakti-lata-bija

"Having travelled throughout the universe and got the mercy of Guru, Krishna, a fortunate soul receives a seed of the devotional creeper."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 19.151)

When Gurudev bestows his mercy by some fortune, this fortunate soul receives the seed of the devotional creep and must then practise sravan and kirtan.

মালী হঞা করে সেই বীজ আরোপণ ।
শ্রবণ-কীর্ত্তন-জলে করয়ে সেচন ॥

mali hana kare sei bija aropana
sravana-kirtana-jale karaye sechana

"As a gardener, they must plant that seed and water it with practising: hearing and chanting."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 19.151-152)

It is necessary to water the seed of devotion with the water of hearing and chanting. Hearing and chanting are the root of spiritual life. "Kirtana prabhave smarana haibe (কীর্ত্তন-প্রভাবে স্মরণ হইবে): chanting (kirtan) arouses remembrance (smaran)." We will be able to remember (practise smaran) through kirtan. However, since time immemorial we have been averse to Lord Krishna.

জীবন অনিত্য জানহ সার
তাহে নানাবিধ বিপদ-ভার ।
নামাশ্রয় করি' যতনে তুমি
থাকহ আপন কাজে ॥

jivana anitya janaha sara
tahe nana-vidha vipada-bhara
namasraya kari' yatane tumi
thakaha apana kaje

"Understand the essence: life is temporary and filled with all sorts of adversity. Carefully taking shelter of the Name, engage in your work."

This life is not eternal—any time we can leave, and nobody will give you an advance notice. You have got some time now, so serve the Lord, do service, practise Krishna consciousness. Remember that this life is not eternal—we can leave at any moment.

Somebody says, "I will leave everything and come to stay at the temple," but they cannot.

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

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

"It is not possible to conquer maya by illusory environment (by engaging in maya); it is only possible to get relief by the mercy of Guru, Vaishnav."

If one wants to conquer the illusory environment, they need the mercy of sadhus and the Guru. They must first surrender to a sadhu, Guru and Vaishnavs and then beg them for mercy. After that, Maya Devi will bestow her mercy.

Many want to come to the temple when they retire, but I see that when they retire, they cannot do any service at the temple. They could not utilise their time properly. People cannot give full time to the service of the Lord. We say:

কাঁদিয়া কাঁদিয়া জানাইব দুঃখগ্রাম ।
সংসার অনল হৈতে মাগিব বিশ্রাম ॥

kandiya kandiya janaiba duhkha-grama
samsara-anala haite magiba visrama

Weeping, I will convey my sorrows to the Vaishnav and pray for shelter from the fire of material existence.

When will we get respite from the raging fire of material existence?

Many say, "Oh, I stay at home and practise at home," but you cannot do many services at home. You have an opportunity to stay at the temple, and you will not get this kind of opportunity at home. When you stay at home, you have to worry about your family, you have to earn money, you have to do so many things. When I lived in the shelter of Gurudev, I did not have to worry about anything. Even now too, I do not worry—the Lord will arrange everything as He wishes. I do not have any problem. If you surrender to the Lord:

ষড়ঙ্গ শরণাগতি হইবে যাঁহার ।
তাঁহার প্রার্থনা শুনে শ্রীনন্দকুমার ॥

sad-anga saranagati ha-ibe yanhara
tanhara prarthana sune sri-nanda-kumara

"These are the six types of saranagati, and if you can surrender in all the six ways, Krishna will hear you."

If you surrender in all six ways, Nanda Kumar will hear your prayer. As for service, you must properly do the service that Gurudev gives you. You must listen to what Gurudev says, and understand, "I will do the service that Gurudev has given me." If you do something of your own accord, if you follow what your mind says, it will be karma. Gurudev tells you to fry potato, but you fry eggplant. Even if you stay in the temple, if you are like this, your attempts will be karma. As a result of such activities, you will become bound by your karma. If Gurudev tells you, "Do puja," you must do that, what else is there? If you can do puja and on top of that give class or do some other service also, it is good, but if you do something else instead of doing puja, then it is not good. Yet if you think, "I like giving class," "I like going for collection," "I like preaching," but it is not a matter of what you like or do not like—you must do what your Guru tells you to do. It is necessary to understand this.

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