(5/10) Heed My Word

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Sri Ekachakra Dham, evening class, 26 February 2021
Translated from Bengali, part 5

I have recently spent four days in Tarakeshwar. During those four days, I collected four hundred sacks of potato – it will be used for Gaura Purnima, which is coming soon, and will also last all our temples the whole year.

I do not want money from anyone. I am happy with whatever you give. This big festival has just happened here – can anyone say that I took money from them? I did take some pranami – from those who were giving a donation themselves. I do not want anything from anyone, and I do not worry about anything. If somebody does not serve Nityananda Prabhu, if somebody evades service, somebody else will come and do it. When I was coming here, somebody had left thinking that they would avoid meeting me. Who are they cheating? They are only cheating themselves. You come here, spend a few days and then go away, but who are you trying to cheat? You are trying to cheat Sri Nityananda Prabhu.

Gurudev also said, ‘Nobody can make me poor.’ I left the main temple empty-handed – I went away from there only taking my clothes. But I have never lacked anything. When I was in South India, they attacked the building in Dum Dum Park and took everything, even my soap(!). But it did not harm me in any way. The Lord protects me. We have faith in Sri Nityananda Prabhu and Gurudev, so we have no fear. Gurudev told me, ‘Danger will come, but later everything will be resolved.’ And I see that. I am not afraid of danger. I know that one day I was born and one day I have to die.

I will have to die, but if I can leave this world knowing that I have done something good, that I have done some service to the Lord, then I will feel very grateful. I am telling it to you all, too; learn from my example. I always keep telling everyone: if you try to cheat and avoid the Lord’s service using various pretexts, it is not good, it is wrong. This refers to everyone, no matter what service you do. You must remember this.

You can see **. He is a disciple of Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaj (later he took initiation from Gurudev and, recently, sannyas from me). He is always only walking around distributing books – he does not even sit down. You can see him standing over there, at the book stall. He cannot speak English well, he does not know Bengali, but he distributes books and takes some donation in exchange, saying to everyone somehow, ‘Take this book for ten rupees. If you read it, you will get benefit.’ In these four days since we are here, he has sold books for 20–25,000(!) rupees – he has just given that money to me.

I went out to the market to get some potato and dal today, but I saw that the market was empty. Whatever I had brought – lau, oil and all other things – everything is finished. But it is not a problem. In any case, all the potato I collect is for spending, not for keeping. Nityananda Prabhu has sent us His property, and His devotees came, took prasad and left. There is no problem. There is no lack or want of anything. It is those who think that there is some lack that lack a lot (they are the ones who always run behind money).

I never run behind money. I only run behind the Lord, behind His devotees, that is why the Lord sends me money – by hook or by crook, but He sends money somehow. Money comes to me through the Lord’s medium. But those who run behind money always feel they lack something – they always do not have enough, and their lack will never be fulfilled. Srimad Bhagavad-gita also says, ‘You are enjoying with My property! Use My property in My service, then you will know no want of anything.’ You must learn from Srivas Pandit’s example.

Srila Raghunath Das Goswami left all his wealth and wife, who was beautiful as an angel, and went to Mahaprabhu. Srila Rupa Goswami and Srila Sanatan Goswami left their big posts in the government and came to Mahaprabhu. Mahaprabhu Himself also left Nabadwip and stayed in Puri. All devotees are like that (they make sacrifice for the service to the Lord). Our Param Guru Maharaj and our Gurudev also left their families and came to serve the Lord. Prabhupad also came like that – he was a son of a great magistrate, but he left everything. Therefore, I am praying to you all as well – always practise Krishna consciousness, always think about the Lord.

The Lord Himself says, ‘Think about Me, and I will think about you.’ If you think about yourselves, if you worry about yourselves and your interests, the Lord will never think about you. But if you rely and depend on the Lord, the Lord will certainly arrange everything for you. If we lose faith, we will become cheated out of devotion – devotion will be removed from us. Always try your best and make sure your devotion does not go away from you.

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Size: 39 Mb
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