Devotional Ingenuity

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Tarakeshwar area, second afternoon programme
12 February 2021, part 3
Translated from Bengali

তোমার হৃদয়ে সদা গোবিন্দ-বিশ্রাম ।
গোবিন্দ কহেন মম বৈষ্ণব পরান ॥

tomara hrdaye sada govinda-visrama
govinda kahena—mama vaisnava parana [5]

"Govinda always resides in your heart, and He says, 'My devotees are My heart.'"

Where does Krishna stay? One time, Mahaprabhu was asked where He stayed, and He said that, among four places, there was the kitchen of His Mother, Sachi Mata, where she cooks and always thinks about Krishna. When devotees cook, they always think about their Gurudev. When devotees cook, they think, "Gurudev will take this, the Lord will take this. I am not cooking—my Gurudev will take this, so as the Lord has me cook, that way will I cook."

In Srimad Bhagavad-gita, Sri Krishna said, "I do not know anyone except My devotees, and My devotees also do not understand anything or anyone except Me. Devotees only know Me—they do not know anyone else." That is why it is said:

তোমার হৃদয়ে সদা গোবিন্দ-বিশ্রাম ।
গোবিন্দ কহেন মম বৈষ্ণব পরান ॥

tomara hrdaye sada govinda-visrama
govinda kahena—mama vaisnava parana [5]

"Govinda always resides in your heart, and He says, 'My devotees are My heart.'"

প্রতি জন্মে করি আশা চরণে ধুলি ।
নরোত্তমে কর দয়া আপনার বলি ॥

prati janme kari asa charanera dhuli
narottame kara daya apnara bali' [6]

In every birth I aspire for the dust of your feet. Be merciful to Narottam, considering him your own.

Whatever birth I get, I aspire for the dust of Vaishnavs' lotus feet. I do not want to be born as Brahma, I do not want to go to heaven, I do not want to become Indra. Let me be born as a dog as long as I am a dog as devotees' house: devotees will take prasad and throw their plates away, and I will come and lick them. It is necessary to have this mood.

Many are told, "You must not touch Gurudev's feet," but what does it mean? We always think ourselves extremely poor. They come to touch my feet, to take the water that washed my feet, to wash and touch my feet, but they use that same hand to chant on their beads and serve Govinda—how can they touch with that hand the feet of such a fallen soul as I am?! That is why we do not allow this. We do not consider ourselves Vaishnavs—we are servants of the servants of Vaishnavs. This is why we do not let others touch our feet. Mahaprabhu also did not allow it, although there was one person whom Mahaprabhu was bound to allow it.

One time, Mahaprabhu went to the Gundicha Temple one day before the chariots of Lord Jagannath, Lord Baladev, and Lady Subhadra would come there. We also come there the day before Ratha-yatra and clean and sweep the temple. Mahaprabhu climbed somewhere on top there to clean the place, and one clever devotee ("Ye jana Krsna bhaje sei bada chatur, যে জন কৃষ্ণ ভজে সেই বড় চতুর: those who worship Krishna are very clever") came there and poured a pot of water on His feet. The water started falling from Mahaprabhu's feet, and the devotee put his hands there and drank it. When Mahaprabhu saw what had happened, He told Svarup Damodar, "Just see how cunning your Gaudiya! He is nonsense! I have climbed up to clean the Lord's place, and he is washing My feet and drinking that water! Tell him to go away!" Internally, Mahaprabhu was pleased, thinking, "How ingenious he is!" Yet externally, He showed everyone that the devotee should not have done this because if He had allowed it, everyone would have started doing it—they would queue to wash His feet and drink the water. That is why, Mahaprabhu was strict, "Take him away from here! He must get out!" But Srila Krishna Das Kaviraj Goswami said that He was pleased inside, marvelling at the devotional ingenuity of that Gaudiya Vaishnav. This is how one must do their service—you must serve your Guru and Vaishnavs extracting and smearing mellows of deep love from your heart.

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