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, in those four days I collected four hundred sacks of potato. There is Gaura Purnima coming soon, and this potato will also last the whole year for all the temples...

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 have taken some pranami—I took from those who were giving some donation themselves. I do not want anything from anyone, and I do not worry about anything—if somebody does not do the service to Nityananda Prabhu, if somebody bunks it, then somebody else will come and do it. When I was coming here, somebody left thinking they would evade me? Who are they cheating? They are cheating only themselves. You come here, spend a few days and then go away, but who are you trying to cheat? You are trying to cheat Nityananda Prabhu.

Gurudev also said, "Nobody can make me poor." I also left the main temple empty-handed—I only took my clothes and went away from there. However, I never lacked anything. When I was in South India, they attacked the building in Dum Dum Park and took everything—they took even my soap(!); but this did not harm me in any way. The Lord protects me. We have faith in Nityananda Prabhu, we have faith in 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 dangers. I was born one day and I have to die one day.

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 be 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—it does not matter what service you do, you must remember this.

You can see [Sripad Bhakti Ujjval Sajjan Maharaj] here. He is a disciple of Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaj (later, took initiation from Gurudev and sannyas from me). He only keeps roaming around distributing books—he does not even sit down. You can see him over there (at the book stall). He cannot even speak English well, he does not know Bengali, but he distributes books and takes some donation in exchange, saying anyhow: "Take this book for ten rupees; if you read it, you will get benefit." In these four days, he has sold books for 20-25,000 rupees(!)—he has given that money to me.

I went out to the market to get some potato, some dal, but I saw that the market was empty. Whatever I brought—lau, oil, etc.—everything is finished. However, there is no problem. All the potato I collect is for spending—Nityananda Prabhu has sent His property, and Nityananda Prabhu's devotees came, took this prasadam, and left. There is no problem. There is no lack, there is no want of anything. Those who think this is some want, who think there is some lack (who run behind money) are the ones who lack a lot.

I never run behind money. I only run behind the Lord, behind 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. However, those who run behind money always feel they lack—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 not want anything."

You must learn also from Srivas Pandit's example. Srila Raghunath Das Goswami left all his wealth, left his wife, who was beautiful as an angel, and went to Mahaprabhu. Srila Rupa Goswami, Srila Sanatan Goswami left their big posts in the government and came to Mahaprabhu. Moreover, Mahaprabhu Himself left Nabadwip and stayed in Puri. All devotees are like that [they make sacrifice]. Our Param Guru Maharaj, our Gurudev also left their families and came to practise Krishna consciousness. Prabhupad also came—he was the 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 yourself, if you worry about yourself and your interests, then the Lord will never think about you. If you rely and depend on the Lord, then the Lord will surely arrange everything for you. If we lose faith, we will become cheated out of devotion—devotion will be removed from us. So, you must always try your best to make sure your devotion does not go away from you.

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