Increase Your Fortune

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Lord Nityananda Prabhu's Appearance, noon class
Sri Ekachakra Dham, 25 February 2021, part 6
Translated from Bengali

We must not forget that we are eternal servants of Krishna. You must know your identity—you must know who you are. I am not so-and-so Ray, so-and-so Chowdhury, so-and-so Master, or so-and-so Maharaj! I am not a brahmachari, I am not a ksatriya, I am not a vaisya! What did Mahaprabhu say?

নাহং বিপ্রো ন চ নরপতির্নাপি বৈশ্যো ন শূদ্রো
নাহং বর্ণী ন চ গৃহপতির্নো বনস্থো যতির্বা ।
কিন্তু প্রোদ্যন্নিখিলপরমানন্দপূর্ণামৃতাব্ধে-
র্গোপীভর্ত্তুঃ পদকমলয়োর্দাসদাসানুদাসঃ ॥

naham vipro na cha nara-patir napi vaisyo na sudro
naham varni na cha grha-patir no vanastho yatir va
kintu prodyan-nikhila-paramananda-purnamrtabdher
gopi-bhartuh pada-kamalayor dasa-dasanudasah

"I am not a brahman, I am not a ksatriya, I am not a vaisya or a sudra. Nor am I a brahmachari, a householder, a vanaprastha or a sannyasi. I identify Myself only as the servant of the servant of the servant of the lotus feet of Lord Sri Krishna, the maintainer of the gopis. He is like an ocean of nectar, and He is the cause of universal transcendental bliss. He is always existing with brilliance."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 13.80)

"I am a servant of devotees." I am a menial servant of devotees. People are too proud to call themselves menial servants—"I like it when people call me 'Prabhu', I feel I am being given honour, and if somebody called me a servant, it hurts me." Yet we want to give honour to others. That is why, we sing every morning,

সকলে সম্মান করিতে শকতি
দেহ' নাথ ! যথাযথ ।

sakale sammana karite sakati,
deha natha! yatha yatha

"Gurudev! Please give me such power that I can give appropriate honour to everyone."

We give 'ki jay' to everyone. Nitai Gaurachandra Prabhu ki jay. You must give honour to everyone. Pray to Gurudev, "Gurudev, please hijack me!"

Recently, I sent Ashok Prabhu and Sripad Niriha Maharaj for collection. Somebody scolded them, "What are you begging for? Go chant the Holy Name! Go worship Deities! Do you think you can practise Krishna consciousness just by bringing a sack of rice from Shantipur?" One time, I went to a house in Mednipur. A man came out to me and said, "Do not come to this house, I will not be able to help you." I told him, "I have not come to take your help—I have come to help you!" To help people, sadhus go house to house to take a sack of rice or even just a handful of rice or potato because people cannot offer anything to the Lord themselves—they are enjoying with the Lord's things (they eat everything themselves). When I was going down the street, I saw someone got very hungry, bought some khaja (sweatmeat) and started stuffing it into his mouth. Seeing me, the man tried to say, "Nitai! Nitai!" but his mouth was full of khaja. That is "pahu tule Hari bolo" (chant the Holy Name with your arms upraised) for you—He is holding khaja in one hand and raises the other arm saying, "Hari bol!" He cannot even say "Nitai, Nitai!" You cannot practise Krishna consciousness like that. Mahaprabhu said,

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)

Your mind must serve Radha Krishna.

This life is always passing and going away,

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

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

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.

('Durlabha manava janma labhiya' by Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur)

We have to leave this world, but how much have you chanted the Holy Name? How much have you listened to Hari-katha? You will have to answer these questions. You have come to this holy abode of Nityananda Prabhu by a great fortune. The Lord has bestowed His mercy on you and brought you to this holy dham. If you had not got Nityananda Prabhu's mercy, you would not have been able to come here. So many thousands and thousands of jiva souls take birth and live only by eating, sleeping, fearing, and copulating, but how many people come here? One thousand can come, two thousand can come, even if a hundred thousand people will come, that is all—definitely not more than that. You always think about your enjoyment, you always think, "I want more, I want more"; but you have got this tongue for chanting the Lord's Name, to chant the Lord's kirtan. If you do not chant the Holy Name of Krishna, Nitai with this tongue, then this tongue will simply decay and get bitten by insects. If your tongue does not chant the Holy Name of Nitai, it is a waste of tongue—it is not necessary to keep a tongue then! You do not need a mouth if it does not chant the Holy Name of Nitai. Lochan Das Thakur said, "I do not want to go to any place where there is no Nitai." Yet sadhus mercifully go to people's houses. You think, "Oh, he has taken a sack of rice/potato/sugar/dal from me!" but you are so fortunate! Sadhus came to your house and took a sack of rice or a sack of potato from you—they take the trouble of carrying it to the temple and use it for the service of Nitai. You cannot offer it to the Lord yourself—you are not vegetarian, you eat non-vegetarian food, you do not follow Ekadasi, you do not chant the Holy Name—the Lord will not accept an offering from you. That is why, devotees and sadhus come to your door, to your room, and take rice, dal, potato and use it in the service to Lord Govinda.

Sri Nityananda Prabhu's dham parikrama has finished, but soon there will be Sri Nabadwip Dham parikrama. Please come. Everyone can come—there are now one hundred rooms more in Nabadwip. After this festival, I will not go for preaching so much. There is a six-day preaching programme planned, after that I will be in Nrisingha Palli, arranging everything so that you can stay there nicely...

(His Divine Grace concludes the festival programme by chanting Bhoga Arati and Arati kirtans before commencing the grand and renowned prasadam distribution.)

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