Attachment to Sadhus

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Tarakeshwar area, evening programme
13 February 2021, part 1
Translated from Bengali

মূকং করোতি বাচালং পঙ্গুং লঙ্ঘয়তে গিরিম্ ।
যৎকৃপা তমহং বন্দে শ্রীগুরুং দীনতারণম্ ॥

mukam karoti vachalam pangum langhayate girim
yat krpa tam aham vande sri-gurum dina-taranam

"The dumb can speak, the lame can climb a hill—all it takes is mercy from Gurudev."

(Bhavartha Dipika)

First, I am offering my full obeisance at the lotus feet of my Divine Master Om Vishnupad Jagad-guru Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj begging him for his causeless mercy, aspiring to serve him; after that, I am offering my full obeisance to all assembled guru-varga, godbrothers, to all the listeners, to all the motherly lady devotees, and all the devotees. I am offering my obeisance at your holy feet and praying for your mercy to this low soul.

It is said in the scriptures that a cloudy day is not a bad day. What day is a bad day? A bad day is the day when we do not get to hear Hari-katha (about the Lord). Material people never listen to talks about the Lord—even if they have time, they do not listen about the Lord. They gossip, talk about all sorts of things—this is their obstacle. This is what obstructs devotion. Do not gossip, do not tell various stories to each other, do not waste time on nonsense.

গ্রাম্যকথা না শুনিবে, গ্রাম্যবার্ত্তা না কহিবে ।
ভাল না খাইবে আর ভাল না পরিবে ॥
অমানী মানদ হঞা কৃষ্ণনাম সদা ল'বে ।
ব্রজে রাধাকৃষ্ণ সেবা মানসে করিবে ॥

gramya-katha na sunibe, gramya-varta na kahibe
bhala na khaibe ara bhala na paribe
amani manada hana krsna-nama sada la'be
vraje radha-krsna seva manase karibe

"Do not listen to the mundane talks, do not listen to the mundane news. Do not eat fancy food, do not wear fancy clothes. Do not expect honour to yourself, but offer all respect to others. Always chant the Holy Name of Krsna, and in your mind serve Radha-Krsna."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Antya-lila, 6.236-237)

Serve Radha Krishna in your mind; do not gossip or engage in idle talks. For this, you need to take good association (sadhu-sanga):

'সাধুসঙ্গ', 'সাধুসঙ্গ'—সর্ব্বশাস্ত্রে কয় ।
লবমাত্র সাধুসঙ্গে সর্ব্বসিদ্ধি হয় ॥

'sadhu-sanga', 'sadhu-sanga'—sarva sastre kaya
lava-matra sadhu sange sarva siddhi haya

"Good association", "good association," all the scriptures keep saying. Only by good association can you get all perfection.

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 2.22.54)

What does associating with sadhus give? I will explain it to you giving one example.

At Srivas Pandit's house in Nabadwip, there lived a maid. Her name is Duhkhi. She did not have any children, family or education. There was always kirtan at Srivas Pandit's house—when she heard it and could not understand it, but she would still always come and just sit and listen. She washed the dishes, brought water from the pond and did other jobs around the house (in the old days, there were no taps, so they would bring water from ponds or a river for cooking and cleaning). When it was the time of Mahaprabhu's appearance and Srivas Pandit was arranging a festival, he told Duhkhi, "Duhkhi, you know, you bring water from the pond every day, but today bring more water—my Prabhu, Gauranga Mahaprabhu, will come today, and we will offer Him abhisekh (bathe Him)." Hearing this, Duhkhi became very happy and began to cry for joy, "I bring water every day, but today the Lord will bathe with that water that I bring!" Then, Mahaprabhu came, and Duhkhi kept bringing water and crying all the time. Mahaprabhu noticed her and asked her,

"What is your name? Why are you crying? What is making you so sad?"

"Prabhu, my name is Duhkhi [lit. 'unhappy']," she answered.

"Your name is not Duhkhi any more! From today, your name is Sukhi [lit. 'happy']!"

She received the Lord's mercy that day. What did she do? She just washed the dishes. So many great personalities, so many rich people could not get Mahaprabhu's mercy, but this Duhkhi, who only washed dishes, got Mahaprabhu's mercy. There are many examples like this.

There was also a Muslim tailor at Srivas Pandit's house. One day, he came there and said, "Why was I not born in a Hindu family? Why have I been born in a Muslim family? If I had been born in a Hindu family, I would be able to serve the Lord, I would get the Lord's mercy..." Such was his deep desire.

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