(5/11) Ask Yourself, 'Am I Practising?'

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Lord Nityananda Prabhu's Appearance, morning class
Sri Ekachakra Dham, 25 February 2021, part 5
Translated from Bengali

One time, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur was inaugurating a temple. At that time, he did everything himself – he made all the arrangements, did the yajna, and so on. Our Param Guru Maharaj, Om Vishnupad Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj, also received one service and was helping Srila Prabhupad. Many were dissatisfied with that, grumbling, ‘Why does Sridhar Maharaj do what Prabhupad would normally do?’ Srila Sridhar Maharaj got to hear about this and was upset, ‘I tried to help Prabhupad, but instead of that, I have to listen to people slandering and abusing me.’ Then, he came to Prabhupad and said, ‘Prabhupad, I did your service. Please forgive me.’ In reply, Srila Prabhupad said, ‘There is no offence for a surrendered soul.’

Therefore, you must ask yourselves, ‘Have I become a surrendered soul?’ I am not trying to examine or test you, but you should ask yourselves, ‘Am I really practising Krishna consciousness? Do I live following what my guru tells? Do I live in strict adherence to my guru or not?’

‘Jiver seva karte karte atma kalyan labha haya (জীবের সেবা করতে করতে আত্মা কল্যাণ লাভ হয়). By serving jivas, your soul will get benefit.’ However, ‘Jiver seva’ does not mean giving people clothes, food and other things. ‘Jiver daya’, or ‘jiver seva’, means bringing to this path the souls who turned away from Krishna. People say, ‘Jive prema kare yei jana sei jana sevichhe isvara ( জীবে প্রেম করে যেই জন সেই জন সেবিছে ঈশ্বর). Love God by loving others.’ They say ‘love others’, but they actually mean only humans – what they do not understand is that cows, goat, sheep, cats, dogs and every other living entity also have a soul, and their souls are the same as the souls of human beings. All animals, all living entities have the same soul as human beings, but we only show care for humans – we make sure that they have medicine and all other facilities. This is what they call ‘jive prema’ (love for living beings). The main thing is that we do not understand what is called vaishnav-seva. ‘Jive prema’, or, as Mahaprabhu would call it, ‘jive daya’, means bringing to this path the souls who turned away from Krishna.

Many of you have come with a return ticket, and many of you are ready to go back to your houses. You are worrying, ‘When is my train leaving?’ But what happens to your guru’s service? What happens to your guru’s ashram? You go home and live engrossed in your household affairs:

সংসার ভজিলি, শ্রীগৌরাঙ্গ ভুলিলি,
না শুনিলি সাধুর কথা ।
ইহ-পরকাল, দুকাল খোয়ালি (মন),
খাইলি আপন মাথা ॥

samsara bhajili, sri-gauranga bhulili,
na sunili sadhura katha
iha-parakala, dukala khoyali (mana),
khaili apana matha

‘Worshipping your material life, you forgot Sri Gauranga and never listened to sadhus’ words. (O mind,) you have wasted both this and next life – you have been simply ‘eating’ your own head (ruining your own life).’

(Srila Lochan Das Thakur)

We go home and worship our material life – we forget Gauranga, we forget Nitai! You come here, stay for a few days, chanting, ‘Nitai, Nitai’, and when you go back to your houses, what do you do there?…

Our Param Guru Maharaj, Srila Sridhar Maharaj, had a younger sister, Rama Devi. One day, Gurudev was walking around the temple and took me to her. (Rama Devi could not hear so well in her old age. Gurudev would come to see her sometimes, to pay his obeisance and talk to her because she was Srila Guru Maharaj’s younger sister.) That day, Gurudev greeted her and said, ‘Didi, you are chanting your mala and talking – what are you chanting? Are you chanting, “Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna”, or are you chanting, “Nitu Satu, Nitu Satu”?’ (Rama Devi had two nephews, Nitu and Satu.) There is also one old lady devotee who is staying in Nrisingha Palli now. She sits and does her mala most of the day, but when you look at her, you will see that she has her mala in her one hand and her mobile phone in her other hand. I told her one time, ‘Didi, what are you chanting? Are you looking at your phone and chanting, “Rumu Chumu, Rumu Chumu”?’ (She has two granddaughters, Rumki and Chumki. Both are grown-up ladies now.)

You think about your material lives, and you cannot chant the Holy Name. You worship your material lives…

সংসার ভজিলি, শ্রীগৌরাঙ্গ ভুলিলি,
না শুনিলি সাধুর কথা ।
ইহ-পরকাল, দুকাল খোয়ালি (মন),
খাইলি আপন মাথা ॥

samsara bhajili, sri-gauranga bhulili,
na sunili sadhura katha
iha-parakala, dukala khoyali (mana),
khaili apana matha

‘Worshipping your material life, you forgot Sri Gauranga and never listened to sadhus’ words. (O mind,) you have wasted both this and next life – you have been simply ‘eating’ your own head (ruining your own life).’

(Srila Lochan Das Thakur)

Not listening to what sadhus tells us, we ruin both our present and our future lives.

So, you come to this holy dham, chant, ‘Nitai, Nitai’, and then go home and again become engrossed in your material life, not caring for the Lord, not worshipping the Lord. You must practise archanam (Deity worship), vandanam (praying) even at home! Many take initiation, but you must practise at home, too (practise archan, vandan, prasad-seva, etc.), then materialism will go away from you. We are aparadhi (offenders), that is why we pray,

কবে হবে বল, সে দিন আমার ।
অপরাধ ঘুচি’, শুদ্ধ নামে রুচি,
কৃপা-বলে হবে হৃদয়ে সঞ্চার ॥

kabe habe bala, se dina amara
aparadha ghuchi’, suddha name ruchi,
krpa-bale habe hrdaye sanchara

‘Tell me, when will that day be mine? When, by mercy, will my offences go away? When will I get taste for the pure Holy Name?’

(Saranagati, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

‘When will offence go away from me, and when I get taste for the pure Holy Name?…’

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Length: 67 min
Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Supremely Worshippable Day
2) Do Not Pass Your Life in Vain
3) Cleanliness Is Next to Godliness
4) Meaning of Discipleship
5) Ask Yourself, "Am I Practising?"
6) Become Pure
7) Who Is Nityananda Prabhu?
8) How and When?
9) Scattered Heart
10) Learn the Truth
11) What Do You Need?