Eating Up Old Rice

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Tarakeshwar Temple, evening class,
11 February 2021, part 6
Translated from Bengali

One time, a sadhu went to one house, on the door of which was written (there are similar signs in Kolkata also, on big houses and flats): "No entry for hawkers and beggars." So, one day, a sadhu went to such a house with some books. The owner of the house was furious—he came to beat us with a stick! He cried, "It is written on my door! Do you not understand?!" The sadhu kept quiet and said nothing. The man chased him, "Go away! Go! Go!" The sadhu did not stir—he kept standing silently. The sadhu does not want anything from the man—he only wants to use him for the service of the Lord. So, in the end, the sadhu asked for some dry leaves that had fallen outside the man's house. (Sometimes, when they scold too much for picking flowers from the garden, you can take dry leaves and use them for cooking. This can also be used.) Then, the daughter-in-law of the man came out. It turned out that she came from a devotional family—sadhus would come to their house, and her family were devotees also. The man beat the sadhu, swore the sadhu—ten minutes passed, fifteen minutes passed, an hour passed—but the sadhu did not move and did not say anything. Then, the girl came; she picked a flower from a tree and gave it to the sadhu, saying, "My father-in-law eats old rice. This is something new for him." She said this, and the sadhu left. Then, the man (her father-in-law) asked her, "What mantra did you tell him? He eats old rice? What is this? What does it mean?" She explained, "'Eating old rice' means as a result of your previous births (because you did some good works in your previous lives), you are living now in this nice three-storey house and eating nice food. Because you are living happily now at this time, you forget the Lord, but you have not done anything for the next life." When the man heard this, he said, "What you are saying is very valuable. You must teach me more about it." The girl said then, "You must read Srimad Bhagavad-gita. All this is written in it."

সর্ব্বধর্ম্মান্ পরিত্যজ্য মামেকং শরণং ব্রজ ।
অহং ত্বাং সর্ব্বপাপেভ্যো মোক্ষয়িষ্যামি মা শুচঃ ॥

sarva-dharman parityajya, mam ekam saranam vraja
aham tvam sarva-papebhyo, moksayisyami ma suchah

"Give up all kinds of religion and surrender to Me alone. I will liberate you from all sins, do not despair."

(Srimad Bhagavad-gita, 18.66)

"Give up all religions and surrender to Me, I will take care of you."

'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 firm, determined faith that by service to Krishna all actions are accomplished."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 22.62)

Your debt to your father, mother, rishis (sages), demigods—all debts are cleared if you serve the Lord. It is not necessary to worship any gods and demigods separately if you worship the Lord. When you worship Lord Krishna, all other kinds of worship is automatically accomplished. Always remember this, it will give you spiritual benefit.

[His Divine Grace then chants 'Ke yabi ke yabi re bhai'.]

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