Do Not Waste This Human Life

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Tarakeshwar area, 10 February 2021 (noon), part 2

Many of you know it—when I go for collection, many say, "I have no time," "I cannot come for four days," "I cannot come for two days." They are very busy with their work, but if the Lord wishes, He can keep you in hospital for one month. People do not fast on ekadasi—they eat rice on ekadasi days, but it is prohibited to eat rice on ekadasi. Many say they cannot manage without rice, but when you get into hospital and are given saline for fifteen days, what will you do then? You will not get any rice there—what to speak of rice, you will not even get water, they will only give you saline. It is said in the scriptures that if you take rice on ekadasi, it is the same as eating cow's meat. You must follow ekadasi. It is good even for health. You eat all kinds of things all the time, but on ekadasi take plain food—cook some potato with black pepper and take that at noon. We eat rice at noon and rotis in the evening, but instead of rotis you can have some vegetables, fruit, milk, curd, etc. You can take sandesh if you make it at home (shop sandesh can have other things in it). It is not a problem. Everyone must follow ekadasi, whether they are married or not married. Many say that if you are not a widow, you must not follow ekadasi. It is a misconception. Such things are not written anywhere in the scriptures. Whatever your lifestyle or position is, you must follow ekadasi twice a month, it will be good because in this world everyone is part of Krishna's family.

We suffer from five diseases, the first of which is avidya, ignorance. Ignorance means we do not understand things. If asked who we are, we say, "I am so-and-so Vishwanath," "I am so-and-so Ray," etc. This is not our identity. This is the identity of the body—as long as this body is there, others call me by this name, but once this body is thrown into the Ganges, will anyone call you by that name? The name you know yourself by is the identification of this body, not who you are. Not know who you are is called ignorance. It is necessary to know who I am. I am not a brahman, a Maharaj, a Kaviraj, a Chaudhary, etc. What am I that moves the legs, that make the mouth speak? There is a living entity within everything—in children, in insects, in trees, etc. This living entity is the soul. The soul is the power of life within us. Who gives this power? The Lord. Our father and mother gives us this body by mixing their blood together, but they do not give us that which we are (our intrinsic self). You must remember this. Who gave us that which we are? The Lord. That is why in the scriptures (in Srimad Bhagavad-gita and other places) it is said that we are sons of nectar. We all come from the same place, and we are all relatives. We are all sons of the same Lord. Some live in Tarakeshwar, some in Narayanpur, some in Hooghly, some in Bardhaman, some in Russia, some in America, some in London, but we are all children of the Lord. We have forgotten this. We must go back to Him whose children we are. We must return to that home.

There is one thing you must always think about. When you stay in a rented place, you stay there for six months, and once some problem happens, you leave and find another place. Then, you can stay in the new place for one year, but again some problem can come, and you will again have to change you home. If you keep changing your house all the time, will you be happy? One day you will think, "Better I somehow buy some land. I can make some thatched house and stay there, it is better." In the same way, wherever we are staying here now, this is a rented house, and you will never feel happy here until and unless you return to your own home. Our home is in Goloka Vrindavan—the home of the Lord. We come from the house of the Lord in Goloka Vrindavan, and we must all go there. We all had a place there, but as a result of our karma some of us became human, some became cows, some became trees, some became goats, etc. It is said in the scriptures:

জলজা নবলক্ষাণি স্থাবরা লক্ষবিংশতি
কৃময়োরুদ্রসঙ্খকাঃ পক্ষিণাং দশলক্ষনম্
ত্রিংশললক্ষাণি পশবঃ চতুরলক্ষাণি মানুষাঃ

jalaja nava-laksani sthavara laksa-vimsati
krmayo rudra-sankhyakah paksinam dasa-laksanam
trimsal-laksani pasavah chatur-laksani manusah

"There are 900,000 species living in the water. There are also 2,000,000 nonmoving living entities, such as trees and plants. There are also 1,100,000 species of insects and reptiles, and there are 1,000,000 species of birds. As far as quadrupeds are concerned, there are 3,000,000 varieties, and there are 400,000 human species."

(Padma Purana)

We have been born 900,000 times in the water. There are so many living entities living in the water: fish, sharks, whales, crocodiles, etc. You can see so many species on TV, and there are so many different kinds abroad also. We too have been born as them 900,000 times. We have been born 2,000,000 times as trees, hills. There are 2,000,000 kinds of trees, hills, etc. (mango trees is just one kind, and just like that there are 2,000,000 kinds of species in the world). We were also born 1,100,000 times as insects, bugs, etc. There are so many of them living on the ground. Then, 1,000,000 times we were born as various birds (you can see so many flying in the sky). We were also born 3,000,000 times as animals (cows, goats, pigs, sheep, cats, etc.). Finally, we were also born 400,000 times as humans. At some point, we were born in America, at some time we were born in Nagaland, at some point in Manipur, at some point we were born as Christians, and so on. There are so many kinds of humans in the world. There are people who eat other people. Moreover, there are even trees that eat humans (I have heard there are such trees in the Amazon area in Brazil).

In this way, we have been born as humans 400,000 times, but now we are born in Bharata-bhumi (India), where there is Ganga, where there is Yamuna. This is a pure land. The Lord came to this pure land. There is Vrindavan, Mathura, Kasi, Badrinath, Kedarnath here. In the whole world, there are many great buildings, but there is no other place in this world that could compare with this land. The Lord Himself came to this land many times—He came here in Satya-yuga, Treta-yuga, Dvapar-yuga, and in Kali-yuga also. Later, Kalki also will come after Kali-yuga finishes.

The duration of Kali-yuga is 432,000 years, and only some 5,100 years have passed so far. There is still so much left—we will have to cross so many births. However, we have got this human birth now by a great fortune....

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