Real Family Life

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Kolkata—Worldwide, 28 February 2021, part 6

Does anyone have any questions?

Question: I do not really like reading so much, but I understand that it is necessary to read. Should I force myself to read?

Of course. You must force yourself. Do not follow your mind. Your mind tells you not to read, but you must read—I am telling you that you must read. Do not follow your mind. You must read, you must practise kirtan and everything else. Do everything properly. Wake up early in the morning, do mangal arati, cook bhoga, do the offering, etc. It must be a real family life without attachment (asakti vihina samsar). "Yatha-yogya visaya bhunja' anasakta hana (যথাযোগ্য বিষয় ভুঞ্জ' অনাসক্ত হঞা): serve accepting material things, but without attachment." (Cc, 2.16.238)

We say all this, but in reality:

সংসার ভজিলি শ্রীগৌরাঙ্গ ভুলিলি
না শুনিলি সাধুর কথা ।
ইহ-পরকাল দুকাল খোয়ালি (মন)
খাইলি আপন মাথা ॥

samsara bhajili sri-gauranga bhulili
na sunili sadhura katha
iha-parakala dukala khoyali (mana)
khaili apana matha

You served your family (mundane ends), forgot Sri Gauranga, and never listened to the sadhus' words. O mind, you wasted both this life and your next life. You depraved yourself.

('Avatara sara Gora avatara' by Srila Lochan Das Thakur)

We forget Gauranga! Instead, we worship and become deeply attached to material family life. Ask yourself—do you worship Krishna or do you worship your material life? People always think what they will eat tomorrow, what they will cook tomorrow, etc.

deha-geha-kalatradi-chinta avirata
jagichhe hrdaye mora buddhi kari hata

Constant thoughts of my body, home, wife, and so on, arise in my heart and spoil my intelligence.

haya, haya! nahi bhavi—anitya e saba
jivana vigate kotha rahibe vaibhava?

Alas! Alas! I never considered that all of these things are temporary. When my soul departs, where will all these opulences remain?

They always think how to get more property, more wealth, more things! But what will happen to all that after they die? We must think about Gurudev's service... The other day, I spoke to one of my disciples. I told the lady, "Your husband has died, your two daughters have already got married and live in their own house—what for do you live alone? You cook, offer the bhog, take prasadam on your own—it is better if you go to stay at the temple. One Didi has some problem with her finger in the Tarakeshwar temple—you can come and serve there." She did not agree, she said, "I do some labour work..." What labour work? I told her, "You get two hundred rupees per day, what will you do with your money? You are alone now. You must go and stay at the temple, you can do some service there, and you will get prasadam and anything else you need." She did not come—she made some excuse that she was working from time to time (not even every day!)... Then, on Nityananda-trayodasi day, as Gurudev used to say, 'she picked the patal' [Beng. idiom—once patal is picked, the patal tree dies; Eng.—kicked the bucket]. She was sitting and then went to the bathroom and left her body suddenly there, and she was relatively young—only fifty years old. I told her to do service, but people have too much attachment to their houses. She lived in a small house, and it was not even a thatched house—she lived in a mud house. So, even if they live in a not very good house, they still cannot leave it, they are very much attached. Such is their misfortune.

[Addressing one of the devotees.] ...I have got your message today. Do not worry, everything will be good. We are praying for the soul of your son. You know, one day Srivas Pandit's only son had died. Srivas Pandit did not inform Mahaprabhu about that, but when Mahaprabhu was doing kirtan at Srivas Pandit's house that day, He chastised Srivas Pandit, "What has happened? Why is the kirtan not going well today? Something must have happened." When Mahaprabhu heard that Srivas Pandit's son had died, He spoke to the dead boy asking him why he had left, and the dead boy said, "I have been here for as long as You have kept me here, but now You are calling me to some other place, and I am going there." This is what happened at Srivas Pandit's house. Mahaprabhu was very pleased with Srivas Pandit—at first Mahaprabhu chastised Srivas Pandit, but inside, in His heart, He was very pleased because He understood that Srivas Pandit had not told anything not to disturb the Lord's kirtan—this is how much attachment Srivas Pandit had towards kirtan and Mahaprabhu...

Are there any other questions?

Question: We hear that Sriman Nityananda Prabhu is very merciful and that His son is Virachandra Prabhu is even more merciful. How can we even begin to understand the meaning of that?

You can understand it from the example of Srila Raghunath Das Goswami. When Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and Srila Svarup Damodar Prabhu left, Srila Raghunath Das Goswami was very sad and wanted to commit suicide. However, after he met Srila Sanatan Goswami and Srila Rupa Goswami, they protected his life and gave him very much nourishment. Srila Raghunath Das Goswami said in the end, "What I have got from Srila Rupa Goswami and Srila Rupa Goswami is so much more than what I got even from my Guru-varga (Mahaprabhu and Svarup Damodar)."

There are many people who claim to be disciples of Srila Sridhar Maharaj—they proudly tell with their mouth, "I am a direct disciple of Srila Sridhar Maharaj!" but actually it was Gurudev who protected them. Srila Sridhar Maharaj could not deal or control foreign devotees and he gave everything to the hands of our Gurudev, so devotees got so much more mercy from Gurudev—they got the mercy they never got from Srila Sridhar Maharaj. They must admit and understand that. In the same way, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur had given so much mercy to Srila Prabhupad Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur, and we have got so much more from Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur than from Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur himself. That is why, Sivji Maharaj also says, "Aham vedmi, Suka vetti, Vyasa vetti na vetti va." Vyasadev composed Sriman Bhagavatam, but who did we actually get Srimad Bhagavatam from? From Srila Sukadev Goswami, it was his mercy. So, Sivji Maharaj says, "I know the meaning of Bhagavatam, Sukadev knows it, but Vyasadev may or may not know it."

In short, sometimes so much more mercy is bestowed and distributed through the successor...

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