(9/14) Direct Your Mind to Bhagavatam

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Lord Nityananda Prabhu's Appearance, evening class
Sri Ekachakra Dham, 25 February 2021, part 9
Translated from Bengali

You have been listening to the glories of Sriman Nityananda Prabhu for several days already. Srila Krishna Das Kaviraj Goswami said, ‘I am lower than a warm in stool, but I am speaking about the glories of Sriman Nityananda Prabhu!’ Gurus and Vaishnavs rescued such fallen souls as us, who are lower than worms in stool (if you take a worm out of stool, it always goes back to stool), from the illusory environment and engaged us in the service of the Lord, but our minds still always go to maya. Such is our sad position. But gurudev is always merciful:

দুর্দ্দৈবে সেবক যদি যায় অন্য-স্থানে ।
সেই ঠাকুর ধন্য তারে চুলে ধরি' আনে ॥

durdaive sevaka yadi yaya anya-sthane
sei thakura dhanya ta’re chule dhari’ ane

‘If, by some misfortune, a servant goes in a wrong direction, glorious is the master who catches him by the hair and brings him back.’

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 3.4.47)

This is ‘loving search for the lost servant’. We are lost children, and the Lord is searching for us. When a father loses his son, he searches for him everywhere – he publishes an advertisement on TV, in newspapers, declares the boy missing, does everything he can to find his boy. In the same way, the Lord has lost His children – us, the fallen souls – and is searching for us everywhere, ‘When will these souls start practising spiritual life and come back to Me?’ This is what Krishna consciousness is. ‘Tava nija-jana kona mahajane pathaiya dile tumi (তব নিজ-জন কোন মহাজনে পাঠাইয়া দিলে তুমি). The Lord sends His own man to tell me about Him.’

If you send a letter to the Lord, you will not get any reply, but if you hand your letter to gurudev and ask him something, you will get a reply and receive the news about the Lord. That is why it is not necessary to go to the Lord directly – the Lord’s very own associate has come to this world as a guru, as an acharya: you can approach him and make your honest enquiry. Honest enquiry means asking, ‘Who am I?’, ‘Why am I suffering?’, ‘What is good for me?’, ‘What is the goal of life?’, ‘How can I achieve this goal?’ We must make honest enquiry (pariprasna).

How can we get spiritual benefit?

Pariksit Maharaj asked a sixteen-year-old naked young boy Sukadev Goswami, ‘How can I get spiritual benefit?’ Giving the answer, this sixteen-year-old boy spoke during seven days, which is what later became Srimad Bhagavatam. Bhagavatam was not originally composed by anyone. Later, at Naimisaranya (Uttar Pradesh), sixty thousand rishis asked Suta Goswami to repeat what Sukadev Goswami had told Pariksit Maharaj, and this is when Bhagavatam was first recorded.

পৃথিবীতে যত কথা ধর্ম্মনামে-চলে ।
ভাগবত কহে সব পরিপূর্ণ ছলে ॥

prthivite yata katha dharma-name-chale
bhagavata kahe taha paripurna chhale

’Bhagavatam says that whatever is going on in this world in the name of religion is complete cheating.’

(Based on Srimad Bhagavatam, 1.1.2)

You must listen to Srimad Bhagavatam because this scripture is all about devotion only. At the same time, although Srimad Bhagavatam is the highest scripture, there is no mention of Srimati Radharani in it – Her devotion is such a high topic that it is not even mentioned anywhere in Srimad Bhagavatam. That is why Sri Vasu Ghosh wrote:

যদি গৌর না হ’ত, তবে কি হইত,
কেমনে ধরিতাম দে ।
রাধার মহিমা, প্রম-রসসীমা,
জগতে জানাত কে ? ॥

yadi gaura na ha’ta, tabe ki haita,
kemane dharitam de
radhara mahima, prema-rasa-sima,
jagate janata ke?

‘If Gaura had not come, what would have happened? How would we have lived? Who would have revealed to the world Radha’s glory and the acme of Her ecstatic divine love?’

(Sri Vasu Ghosh Thakur)

If Gauranga had not come, who would have revealed Srimati Radharani in this world? Krishna took Srimati Radharani’s heart and halo and appeared as Gauranga – when He was in Sri Puri Dham, Gauranga Mahaprabhu revealed that combined form in front of Sri Svarup Damodar and Sri Ramananda Ray. Sivji Maharaj said, ‘Aham vedmi, Suka vetti, Vyasa vetti na vetti va. I know it, Sukadev Goswami knows it, but I do not know whether Vyasadev knows it or not.’ Therefore, if Vyasadev (the guru) gives his mercy to somebody, that person must certainly know it. When Srila Raghunath Das Goswami came to Vrindavan, he said, ‘What I have got from Rupa and Sanatan is even more than I have got from my guru Svarup Damodar and even more than I have got from Mahaprabhu Himself!’ Srila Krishna Das Kaviraj Goswami also wrote at the end of every single chapter of Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita,

শ্রীরূপ-রঘুনাথ-পদে যার আশ ।
চৈতন্যচরিতামৃত কহে কৃষ্ণদাস ॥

sri-rupa-raghunatha-pade yara asa
chaitanya-charitamrta kahe krsna-dasa

‘Always aspiring after the lotus feet of Sri Rupa and Raghunath, Krishna Das is narrating this Chaitanya-charitamrita (“nectar of Chaitanya’s character”).’

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 1.1.110; repeated at the end of every chapter)

‘By the mercy of Nityananda Prabhu, I have got Vrindavan. By the mercy of Nityananda Prabhu, I have got Rupa and Raghunath. By the mercy of Nityananda Prabhu, I have got Mahaprabhu.’ These are very beautiful words.

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Length: 104 min
Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Free Yourself From Deceit
2) Be Truthful, Pious, and Sincere
3) Chastity In Preaching
4) Cry, Pray, and Serve
5) Service: Labour of Love
6) Service: Adherence and Attachment
7) Forging Fortune
8) Concentrate Your Mind on Nityananda Prabhu's Service
9) Direct Your Mind to Bhagavatam
10) Keep Yourself On Track
11) Are You Getting Off?
12) Gentle Clean Hearts
13) Do Not Give Up
14) False Attachments