Our Disciplic Succession:
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj  Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj  Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj  Bhagavan Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur Prabhupad
"The Sun Never Sets on Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math":
Worldwide Affiliate Branches and Centres
 
ABOUT US GUIDANCE LIBRARY DAILY PRACTICE PHOTO CALENDAR CONTACT
 

Path to Indigestion

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Sri Ekachakra Dham, evening class, 26 February 2021
Translated from Bengali, part 8

 

You have been listening from me for so many days, does anyone have any questions?

[A devotee asks about Mahaprabhu's instruction to Srila Raghunath Das Goswami.]

Gramya-varta means prajalpa (idle talks)—it means you must not talk about anything except about Krishna. Have you not seen what happens in the afternoon?

Devotee: They sit and tell stories to each other.

When they finish cooking, all the young wives sit and talk, "What did your mother-in-law did?", "What did your father-in-law did?" This is all like chanachur—it neither fills your stomach nor brings any benefit to your health, but it tastes good.

[A devotee asks a question.]

This is very high things. Hladini- and sandini-sakti is a very high topic. Everyone must act and live according to their qualification. Do not venture so far. Do you understand? People sing about all this in lila-kirtans. No, it is all right if you ask this, why keep quiet? I will explain it to you.

Do you think that the love of Radha and Krishna is the same as the love between the boys and girls in this world? Is the love of Radha and Krishna the same as all the photos that boys and girls look at in their mobile phones? You tell me. If they go into all the hladini, etc., they will go for a walk and become pregnant. It must not be discussed. I read to you yesterday:

মাতল হরিজন কীর্ত্তন-রঙ্গে ।
পূজল রাগপথ গৌরব-ভঙ্গে ॥

matala hari-jana kirtana-range
pujala raga-patha gaurava-bhange

"From afar we shall worship the raga-patha, the path of spontaneous affectionate service, while we ourselves shall live within the Vedic guideline."

Sivji Maharaj can take snake poison, he can digest it. It is said in the scriptures,

ব্রহ্মাণ্ড ভ্রমিতে কোন ভাগ্যবান্ জীব ।
গুরু-কৃষ্ণ-প্রসাদে পায় ভক্তিলতা-বীজ ॥

brahmanda bhramite kona bhagyavan jiva
guru-krsna-prasade paya bhakti-lata-bija

"Having travelled throughout the universe and got the mercy of Guru, Krishna, a fortunate soul receives a seed of the devotional creeper."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 19.151)

When a seed sprouts, you need to water it. Is it not so? If you water it too much, what will happen? It will rot. So, those who sing all these lila-kirtans, etc. are rotten—their devotion(?) is destroyed.

Here (in Ekachakra) we talk about vatsalya-rasa (parental love). There is santa-rasa (neutrality), dasya-rasa (servitude), sakhya-rasa (friendship), vatsalya-rasa (parenthood), and madhura-rasa (consorthood). Madhura-rasa is spoken about only in Vrindavan, nowhere else. Do you understand it? We do not speak about it anywhere else except Vrindavan.

[His Divine Grace is distracted by something and tells one of the devotees:] Do you now apply any medicine in the Tulasi garden? The trees are not growing well. You must spray some medicine. Worship and service to Tulasi (Tulasi-bhajan) is not just watering. You must take care of her and spray when necessary. There are Tulasis growing so beautiful in other places. Service to Tulasi is also service, and it is not only about watering Tulasi—you must *serve* Tulasi. "Tulasi dekhi' judaya prana madhava-tosani jani' (তুলসী দেখি' জুড়ায় প্রাণ, মাধবতোষণী জানি'): seeing Tulasi Devi soothes my soul, for I know she pleases Madhava." Seeing Tulasi should fill your very heart with joy.

You are old now, are you not? Can you eat the same amount as a young person? You cannot. Therefore, a young person has more qualification and right to eat than you. If you speak about things that are beyond your right, you will have indigestion—your devotion will be destroyed.

মাতল হরিজন কীর্ত্তন-রঙ্গে ।
পূজল রাগপথ গৌরব-ভঙ্গে ॥

matala hari-jana kirtana-range
pujala raga-patha gaurava-bhange

"From afar we shall worship the raga-patha, the path of spontaneous affectionate service, while we ourselves shall live within the Vedic guideline."

Therefore, we keep raga-path (spontaneous loving devotion) in our heart. Our heart's aspiration is Radha-Krishna's lotus feet, this is what we will meditate on. Inside. Do not show anything to others. Do not show off in front of others saying, "I will not leave Radharani!" Keep this inside. Externally, chant, "Hari bol!", "Nitai Gaura!", and internally meditate on Radha-Krishna.

You must have heard kirtans when "Radhe Radhe Radhe" is chanted, many chant, "Radhe Govinda, Radhe Govinda"—do you see us do that? We only chant this in Vrindavan when go for parikrama, nowhere else. Srila Sridhar Maharaj, Srila Guru Maharaj (Srila Govinda Maharaj), Srila Prabhupad did not like at all when anyone chants this freely. This is our line.

You may have heard people sing on the train, "O my Golden Gora, I will keep You in my heart and never leave You..." They say, "My Gora," but if you go to their homes you will see they sing kirtans for money and there is no service to Gora whatsoever. They use Gora to fill their stomaches. Such people use Gauranga. This is a great office!

You can often see—for example there are many such shops in in Nabadwip, Mayapur—they hang Gurudev's or Prabhupad's photo in their shop. When people come, they become impressed, "Oh, our Guru Maharaj's photo is here, I will buy the things here." These people use Gurudev's photos for their business. They use the Lord for their own pleasure.

So, do not use your Guru, do not use the Lord. You must serve your Guru, not use him.

 

— : • : —

 

 

 

 

{ 2001  |   2002  |   2003  |   2005  |   2009  |   2010  |   2011  |   2012 }
{ 2013  |   2014  |   2015  |   2016  |   2017  |   2018  |   2019  |   2020  |   2021 }

Listen to the audio or download (1.6 Mb, 4 min)

 


 

Preaching Guidance: Keen and Careful
'Prabhupad Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur said that if want to make somebody a devotee, you have to shed gallons and gallons of blood. Like, if a patient is going to die and needs blood, you need to give your blood to save them.'

 

Sri-guru-charana-padma
'He who gave me the gift of eyes is my lord, birth after birth. He manifested divine knowledge in my heart. He gives prema-bhakti and destroys ignorance. The Vedas sing of his character.'
শ্রীগুরুচরণ-পদ্ম

We must understand what is favourable to devotion and what is unfavourable, and accept what is favourable and reject what is unfavourable.

"HUMILITY, TOLERANCE, GIVING HONOUR TO OTHERS | HUMILITY, TOLERANCE, GIVING HONOUR TO OTHERS"