Save Yourself

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Adhivas of Lord Nityananda Prabhu's Appearance, evening class
Sri Ekachakra Dham, 24 February 2021, part 16
Translated from Bengali

Wake up tomorrow in the morning; there will be some Hari-katha and kirtans here, and at 9 o'clock, we will go out on the parikrama. Please do not be late, come quickly. After the parikrama, we will come here, speak some Hari-katha, and there will be prasad. Try to fast tomorrow. If you skip one meal, it is not a problem. If somebody has health problems, they can eat. It is my prayer to you all that you may always come for the dham parikrama—Sri Navadwip Dham, Sri Ekachakra Dham, Sri Vrindavan Dham, Sri Puri Dham.

I see so many people have come this time to Sri Ekachakra Dham. Gurudev scolded me, "You have made such a big nat-mandir, where will you get so many people to fill it?" Now you can see that there is no place. We have made so many rooms, but even that is not enough—people still sleep in the nat mandir; and 25-30 people stay in one room. How to do? You have to struggle for one-two days...

সংসার সংসার ক'রে মিছে গেল কাল ।
লাভ না হইল কিছু ঘটিল জঞ্জাল ॥

'samsara' 'samsara' kari' michhe gela kala
labha na ha-ila kichhu, ghatila janjala

"Time has passed as I have been busy in my material life, and I have got nothing—only became burdened."

কিসের সংসার এই, ছায়াবাজী প্রায় ।
ইহাতে মমতা করি' বৃথা দিন যায় ॥

kisera samsara ei chhayabaji praya
ihate mamata kari vrtha dina yaya

"What sort of world is this? It is like a trick, a show. While I affectionately take it as my own, days pass by in vain."

দিন যায় মিছা কাজে নিশা নিদ্রাবশে ।
নাহি ভাবি মরণ নিকটে আছে বসে ॥

dina yaya michha kaje, nisa nidra-vase
nahi bhavi marana nikate achhe vase

"My days are passed in useless work and nights are wasted on sleeping. It never occurs to me that there is death sitting next to me."

আর কবে নিতাইচাঁদ করুণা করিবে ।
সংসার-বাসনা মোর কবে তুচ্ছ হ'বে ॥

ara kabe nitaichand karuna karibe
samsara-vasana mora kabe tuchchha ha'be

"When will Nitaichand give me His mercy? When will my material desires lose all their importance?"

কবে নিত্যানন্দ মোরে করি' দয়া ।
ছাড়াইবে মোর বিষয়ের মায়া ॥

kabe nityananda more kari' daya
chhadaibe mora visayera maya

"When will Nityananda be compassionate to me and relieve me from the mundane illusion?"

("Kabe habe bolo se dina amar" by Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur)

When will Sri Nityananda Prabhu give His mercy to me? When will I be free from material illusion? How can I save myself from this ocean of material existence? I keep coming to this material world engrossed in eating, sleeping, defending and mating. Days are passing in vain.

দিন যায় মিছা কাজে নিশা নিদ্রাবশে ।
নাহি ভাবি মরণ নিকটে আছে বসে ॥

dina yaya michha kaje, nisa nidra-vase
nahi bhavi marana nikate achhe vase

"My days are passed in useless work and nights are wasted on sleeping. It never occurs to me that there is death sitting next to me."

জীবন অনিত্য জানহ সার
তাহে নানাবিধ বিপদ-ভার ।
নামাশ্রয় করি' যতনে তুমি
থাকহ আপন কাজে ॥

jivana anitya janaha sara
tahe nana-vidha vipada-bhara
namasraya kari' yatane tumi
thakaha apana kaje

"Understand the essence: life is temporary and filled with all sorts of adversity. Carefully taking shelter of the Name, engage in your work."

Please live in the family of Krishna. You must practise Krishna consciousness giving up all bad practices and embracing Krishna's family. You are uselessly wasting your time. When will I listen to what my Guru says? When will Gurudev bestow his mercy? When will I be able to serve Gurudev properly? When will I engage in service all day and night? When will I be able to only serve the Lord the whole day? Make sure that not a single day is passed in vain—make sure that not a single day passes without service to the Lord. Eating, sleeping, etc.—these will always be there, and the more you do these things, the more they will increase in your life. I always tell you, "Do not eat good things, do not wear good clothes; always serve Radha Krishna in your mind."

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)

If you want to practise Krishna consciousness all the time, you have to give up the whims and lust of your tongue. Your tongue keeps your bound in the material world.

sarira avidya-jala jadendriya tahe kala
jive phele visaya-sagare
ta'ra madhye jihva ati lobhamaya sudurmati
ta'ke jeta kathina samsare

"The body is a net of illusion, and the material senses are the enemies; they throw the soul into the ocean of mundanity. Among the senses, the tongue is the most greedy and wicked. It is very difficult to conquer the tongue in this world."

krsna bada dayamaya karibare jihva jaya
sva-prasad-anna dila bhai
sei annamrta pao radha-krsna-guna gao
preme daka chaitanya-nitai

"O brothers! Krsna is very merciful: to conquer the tongue He has given us His remnants! Accept this nectarean food, sing the glories of Radha-Krsna, and with love call out, 'Chaitanya! Nitai!'"

When will Nitaichand bestow His mercy on me so that I could do this?

All these things that I am telling you are not just for the three days that you are here. The jiva soul is an eternal servant of Krishna. You go home and forget it, that is why I keep telling you about it, again and again, again and again. I went house to house inviting you to this festival in Ekachakra.

কয় বার এলি কয় বার গেলি
তবু তত্ত্ব না শিখিলি ।
নিজের মাথা নিজে খাইলি
এ দোষ দিবি কারে ভাই ?

kaya bara eli kaya bara geli
tabu tattva na sikhili
nijer matha nije khaili
e-dosa dibe kare bhai?

"Coming and going, coming and going, and never learnt anything. You have been eating your own brain, who will you blame now, brother?"

Who will you blame? You are your own friend, and you are your own enemy. We have no enemies in this world—we are our own enemies. If we cannot subdue the enemy within us (if we cannot subdue lust, anger, greed, illusion, etc.), then what will we do? There are ten senses indriya: pancha-karmendriya (instruments—feet, hands, rectum, genitals, mouth), pancha-jnanendriya (senses—eyes, ears, nose, tongue, skin), and mind, intelligence, and ego. If you regularly chant kirtans and listen to Hari-katha, then one day you will be able to concentrate your mind on eternal conscious place and the service of the Lord. We must throw everything—our body, mind, heart, ego—at the lotus feet of the Lord.

দীক্ষাকালে ভক্ত করে আত্মসমর্পণ ।
সেইকালে কৃষ্ণ তারে করে আত্মসম ॥

diksa-kale bhakta kare atma-samarpana
sei-kale krsna tare kare atma-sama

"At the time of initiation, when a devotee fully surrenders unto the service of the Lord, Krishna accepts them as His very own."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Antya-lila, 4.192)

Many make a mistake and live by karma-kanda (engage in material life seeking material benefits), and they turn the Lord into a bribe-taker or their menial servant. "Dhanam dehi, vidyam dehi, rupam dehi, bharyam dehi, yasam dehi: make me rich, make me clever, make me beautiful, give me a good wife, make me famous." People want all these things, but Mahaprabhu said,

ন ধনং ন জনং ন সুন্দরীং কবিতাং বা জগদীশ কাময়ে ।
মম জন্মনি জন্মনীশ্বরে ভবতাদ্ভক্তিরহৈতুকী ত্বয়ি ॥

na dhanam na janam na sundarim kavitam va jagadisa kamaye
mama janmani janmanisvare bhavatad bhaktir ahaituki tvayi

"I do not want wealth, I do not want followers, I do not want beautiful women, I do not want to be a poet. I only want causeless devotion to Your lotus feet. Give me that kind of devotion to Your lotus feet so that I could do Your service life after life."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Antya-lila, 20.29)

...In this way, Gurudev has made all arrangement for us. Just now somebody called me asking, "Will there be Nabadwip Dham parikrama?" Of course, there will be, I will not stop by it no matter what. Why must parikrama be stopped? You must all come for the parikrama. You can see so many people sitting here and they are not wearing masks. Corona must have fled. If you get Nitai's mercy (karuna), you will not get corona.

I have not stopped—I went everywhere. Trains and buses did not run for nine months, but my car went everywhere. I went everywhere to speak Hari-katha, and nobody stopped me.

The construction workers at first ran away, but I told them to come back quickly and finish the works. It is necessary to finish devotees' quarter. Everything happened in Nabadwip by the mercy of Gurudev—I left Nabadwip, but I did not stop the parikrama. I made a temple in Nrisingha Palli and started doing parikrama from there. There are many rooms now. Everything is arranged now, there are no problems. During the lockdown, there were another hundred rooms built there. If ten people stay in each room, then one thousand people can come. If the Lord keeps me alive, then another fifty rooms can be built. If my service is needed, then He will keep me alive, and if the Lord wants to take me, He will take. "Janma-mrtyu-biye tin Vidhatar niye (জন্ম মৃত্যু বিয়ে তিন বিধাতার নিয়ে)." There are three things—janma means birth, mrityu means death, and biye means marriage—and these three things are not in the hand of anybody, they are only in the hands of the Lord, they come through the Lord. If the Lord needs me, if He needs me for His service, then He will keep me alive. Otherwise, I can get corona and die, I can get diarrhoea and die, or I can cancer and die. It is impossible to stop this. "Marabi rakhabi, yo ichchha tohara (মারবি রাখবি—যো ইচ্ছা তোহার): whether you keep me or kill me, it is up to You." If He wants to kill, He will kill; and if He wants to protect, He will protect. Because we have little faith in this, we feel scared.

'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)

You will have no debt—no debt to your father, no debt to your mother, no debt to any rishis (sages) or demigods; you will become crazy. When will I become crazy?

One time, Sachi Mata used cooling oil to calm Mahaprabhu when He showed heated behaviour, and Srivas Pandit said, "Didi, what am I to say to you? This oil that you are applying will not help! I know why He has become crazy, and I too want to become crazy like that!" Mahaprabhu became crazy out of separation from Krishna.

You have heard songs of separation sung by Srimati Radharani...

vamsira kono laj nai divanise dake-tai
ami yata dure yay vamsi bole eso rai
keno ye samay bujhe na
o mora keno more na?

"The Flute has no shame! It only keeps on calling day and night. No matter how far I go, the Flute keeps calling, 'Come, Rai.' Why does it not understand? Why does it not die?"

This is Srimati Radharani's lamentation... and in Krishna-lila, Krishna says in separation from Radharani, "O Subal! My mind is burning in agony, what kind of lila is this? I have become mad for Her!"

That is why, Srivas Pandit told Sri Sachi Mata, "I too want to become crazy like Him."

[His Divine Grace sings the kirtan 'Kabe habe bolo se dina amara', 'Hari haraye Krishna Nama' and recited Jaya Dhvani concluding thus the evening class.]

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