Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Tarakeshwar area, evening programme
13 February 2021, part 2
Translated from Bengali

A strong desire means making an effort. Many say, "When the Lord calls me, then I will go to Nabadwip." If you do not make any effort, then how will go? You are your own friend, and you are your own enemy. We have got this human birth, having promised the Lord to practise Krishna consciousness. Sadhus come and keep calling you to Nabadwip, to do parikrama. You are given so much opportunity. There is no lack of accommodation, there is no worry about money. If you do this Nabadwip Dham parikrama, you will get relief from the parikrama of the material world (samsara-parikrama). Guru Maharaj wrote a very beautiful poem:

অনিত্য এ দেহ-রথে চড়িয়া মৃত্যুর পথে
হিংস্র-শার্দ্দূল-পূর্ণ সংসার কানন ।
ভ্রমিতে হবে না আর এছার ভুবন ॥

anitya e deha-rathe chadiya mrtyura pathe
himsra-sarddula-purna samsara-kanana
bhramite habe na ara e-chhara bhuvana [1]

You do not have to wander any longer in this vile world, riding along the path of death in the chariot of this temporary body within the forest of material existence, which is filled with ferocious tigers.

('Sri Nabadwip Dham Parikramay Ahvan': 'Call for Sri Nabadwip Dham Parikrama')

উঠরে উঠরে ভাই আর ত সময় নাই
'কৃষ্ণ ভজ' বলে উচ্চৈঃস্বরে

uthare uthare bhai ara ta samaya nai
'krsna bhaja' bale uchchaihsvare

Wake up, wake up, brother, there is no time! Worship Krishna!

(Acharya Vandana)

Does anyone of us know when the time comes, when we will be summoned to leave this world? I have been to so many people's houses today, and I have seen that many of the people who lived there were no more. I could not meet with many of those whom I had met many times. That is why I am saying: sadhus come and call you so many times, "Come, do the dham parikrama, you will get some peace, happiness in your next life." You have got this human birth now, and if you live like an animal (like cows, goats, sheep, cats)—you only eat, sleep, defend yourself, and enjoy, and you do not remember or think about the Lord—then you will have to go back and get demoted: you will have to be born as frogs, goats, cows, grass, trees, etc. You can see the trees—they are standing without any clothes or cover, they remains standing outside when it is raining and so much water is falling on them. They did something wrong or some offence, as the result of which they got this tree birth.

Do you know who once got a tree birth? If you come to Vrindavan, you will see there a place known as Yamalarjuna vriksa ('twin trees'). We go to that place, it is situated where Nanda Maharaj's house stood in Gokula. Bhagavatam described what happened there. If you read it, you can find it there. In that place, Krishna, who was tied to a mortar, crawled to those two trees, and the trees fell down. Have you heard about that? Who were those Yamalarjuna trees? They were Nalkuver and Manigriv, Kuver's two sons. One day, they went into a lake or a river and did foul things with ladies. It happened so that Narad Goswami was passing that place, but they had no shame or shyness. The ladies quickly grabbed some clothes and covered themselves, but Nalkuver and Manigriv were so intoxicated with their wealth that they had no sense who was passing by, that a sadhu was there, etc. Narad cursed them, "You are so shameless! Next life, you will be born as trees!" That is how the two brothers were born as twin Yamalarjuna trees. When Narad cursed them, they started crying, "What will become of us?" Narad said, "Do not worry, when Krishna comes in Dvapar-yuga, He will rescue you.

So, one day, Krishna's mother was boiling some milk (she made paneer, curd, butter, etc. from milk), but Gopal (Krishna) came and started demanding milk. Mother Yasoda tried to explain to him that she was busy, but do small children understand such things? Gopal kept disturbing His mother, and Mother Yasoda fed Him her breastmilk, but then the milk started boiling over and she put Gopal down. Gopal became very angry! He gathered His friends and went to the room where Mother Yasoda kept curd, butter, etc. The boys climbed on top of each other's shoulder, and started feeding all the butter and curd to monkeys! Krishna said, "Here, take it! Mother did not give Me milk, so I will give everything to monkeys!" When Mother Yasoda came there and saw the scene, she was horrified, "Gosh! I have been making all this curd, butter, etc. so nicely, and He has fed everything to monkeys! Gopal, You are so naughty! I will tie You!" Nanda Maharaj had 900,000 cows (can you imagine it? 900,000 cows!), so Mother Yasoda started bringing rope to tie Gopal, but no matter how much rope she used, she could not bind Him—she tied one rope, but it was two fingers too short! She tied another piece of rope, and it was again two fingers too short! She kept trying and trying and tried so hard that she started to perspire. We sing in the Damodarastakam kirtan:

namamisvaram sach-chid-ananda rupam
lasat-kundalam gokule bhrajamanam
yasoda-bhiyolukhalad dhavamanam
paramrstam atyantato drutya gopya

"To the Supreme Lord, whose form is the embodiment of eternal existence, knowledge, and bliss, whose shark-shaped earrings are swinging to and fro, who is beautifully shining in the divine realm of Gokula, who [due to the offence of breaking the pot of yogurt that his mother was churning into butter and then stealing the butter that was kept hanging from a swing] is quickly running from the wooden grinding mortar in fear of Mother Yasoda, but who has been caught from behind by her who ran after Him with greater speed—to that Supreme Lord, Sri Damodara, I offer my humble obeisances."

rudantam muhur netra-yugmam mrjantam
karambhoja-yugmena satanka-netram
muhuh svasa-kampa-trirekhanka-kanthasthita-
graivam damodaram bhakti-baddham

"[Seeing the whipping stick in His mother's hand,] He is crying and rubbing His eyes again and again with His two lotus hands. His eyes are filled with fear, and the necklace of pearls around His neck, which is marked with three lines like a conchshell, is shaking because of His quick breathing due to crying. To this Supreme Lord, Sri Damodara, whose belly is bound not with ropes but with His mother's pure love, I offer my humble obeisances."

(Damodarastakam, 1-2)

Mother Yasoda wanted to beat Gopal, and Gopal ran away from her with tears in His eyes! He, in front of whom the entire three worlds tremble for fear, is crying in fear of His mother! This is called vatsalya-rasa, parental love. There is santa (neutral relationship), dasya (servitude), sakhya (friendship), vatsalya (parental relationship), and madhura-rasa (paramour relationship). In the end, Gopal thought, "Mom is struggling so much, she cannot bind Me..." He showed His play, "Who are you going to bind?" but then He agreed to be bound. So, next time Mother Yasoda tried to tie Him, He allowed her to do it.

Mother Yasoda tied Gopal to a mortar. Have you seen or heard what kind of mortars there were before? They used those mortars to grind rice, wheat, etc. You must have seen cows tied to such mortars—they go in circles and grind wheat, rice, etc. These mortars are very big and long. So, Mother Yasoda tied Gopal to such a mortar thinking that He would not be able to move, but Gopal started crawling and came to those two Yamalarjuna trees. With the mortar, He felled the trees, and two men came out of the trees. They said with folded palms, "Prabhu, we have been rescued by Your mercy."

That is why it is necessary to want and to try. Mother Yasoda tried and tried, tried and tried...

[His Divine Grace is distracted by somebody in the audience:] Hey, why are you sitting over there and talking? Come here and sit quietly. Sit quietly and listen about the Lord! Your mind is always fickle. I always sing this kirtan, "When will my mind become steady?" It is necessary to always make your mind steady and peaceful. Do not fidget—whatever happens happens by the will of the Lord, you must rely on Him (you must give up everything to Him and have faith that He will take care of everything). If He wants to kill someone, He will kill, and if He wants to keep someone, He will keep ("Marabi rakhabi, yo ichchha tohara; মারবি রাখবি—যো ইচ্ছা তোহার). Can we do anything? Do we have any power? We do not. Therefore, leave everything to the Lord. You must not be anxious about anything.

So, Mother Yasoda tried to bind Gopal: two things are necessary, one is effort, and the other is mercy. If you try, you will get mercy. If I make one step towards the Lord, the Lord will make ten steps towards me. Yet if you do not make any step forward, He will not come to you. What does the Lord say? "If you care for Me, I will care for you. If you think about Me, I will think about you." And if you yourself think about yourself, then the Lord will not care about you. You must give up everything to Him.

— : • : —

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