(3/10) Service Duty (1)

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Sri Ekachakra Dham, evening class, 26 February 2021
Translated from Bengali, part 3

Many devotees are helping – the cooks’ department, the storeroom department and others. Devotees cleaned everything. Sripad Niriha Maharaj went to the market and helped bring some things. Although sick, his father also took care of everything. It is necessary to take responsibility for service.

বিষয়ে যে প্রীতি এবে আছয়ে আমার ।
সেই মত প্রীতি হউক চরণে তোমার ॥

visaye ye priti ebe achhaye amara
sei-mata priti hauk charane tomara

‘May I have the same kind of love for Your holy feet as I now have for this material world.’

(Sri Gitavali, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

We love our wives, sons, brothers and sisters, we have a relationship with them, but that kind of love must be there for our guru, the temple and the Lord. This is the Lord’s house. This is what our consciousness must be like. We must prepare, mould, ourselves in this way.

সংসার সংসার করি মিছে গেল কাল ।
লাভ না হইল কিছু ঘটিল জঞ্জাল ॥

samsara samsara kari michhe gela kala
labha na haila kichhu ghatila janjala

‘Time has passed as I have been busy with my material life, and the result is nothing – only garbage.’

(Sri Kalyan-Kalpataru, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

We do not understand the meaning of janjal (trash, unwanted burden). It is the burden that material life places on you. Many people say, ‘If it was not for the family, I would have come.’ Maya, illusion, always stops them. You come every year, but this time you cannot come – this is Maya Devi’s play.

We must become full-timers. How many of you can do that?

If we can serve the Lord twenty-four hours a day, we will get the highest benefit. You can learn from Guru Maharaj – he left everything and came to the temple. Even when you leave everything and stay at the temple, you must not think only about your enjoyment and pleasure when you are there. This is not right. You are staying here, at the holy land of Nitai – you must keep everything clean. You must think, ‘How can I serve Nitai?’ This is what you must always be alert about. People first come to serve, but the next moment they give it up and run away. Just as the Holy Name of Krishna does not come to the mouths of offenders, service goes away from those who make offences to service and the guru. If we make offences, we will be set free – our service will go away from us.

It is necessary to be steady in your service. This is what I learnt from Gurudev.

‘Jive daya, Name ruchi, vaisnava-seva. Be kind to other souls, relish chanting the Holy Name and serve Vaishnavs.’ Many devotees have come today to Nityananda Prabhu’s holy land. Not only outside materialists came – so many devotees also came. I have been going house to house, I keep connection with everyone, so people come. I keep in touch with everyone, even during the lockdown, amidst the pandemic situation. I have a relationship with all the devotees, and I maintain that relationship. I may not visit everyone’s houses, and some may think that I have died, but I always keep connection with everyone here, at festivals.

Some ISKCON devotees have come to see me today. They said that they had seen me and were looking for me. I spoke to them for an hour. I told them about the relationship between our temple and ISKCON, what relationship there was and what relationship there is now. I have explained everything to them nicely. They were very pleased. They wanted to hear about Nityananda Prabhu’s glories. They asked some questions, and I answered them. They came from different countries – Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and some other countries. I gave them some time in the afternoon.

Whoever you see, tell them to chant the Name of Krishna (yare dekha tare kaha, ‘Kara Krishna Nam’)! ‘Prana achhe yara, sei hetu prachara. You have life, you are alive, therefore you must preach.’ For as long as you have life in your body, you must continue preaching. For as long as you are alive, you must go door to door and tell people about the Lord. I am trying to do that. No matter what sadness, pain or difficulty comes, I am trying to deliver Hari-katha to people’s houses.

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Length: 80 min
Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Main Festivals
2) Serve with Faith
3) Service Duty (1)
4) Service Duty (2)
5) Heed My Word
6) Perverted Tastes and Habits
7) Snowball of Offences
8) Path to Indigestion
9) Memorable Pastimes
10) Kali Yuga Brahmans