Quality Is Not Cheap

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Basirhat, noon programme, 28 February 2021, part 2
Translated from Bengali

Krishna consciousness is not some tradition or custom. You must take it seriously. You think you wake up in the morning at leisure, give some flowers, do some puja at 10 o'clock, then go to work, come back home in the evening, blow a conch, and that is puja. This is not Krishna consciousness (Hari-bhajan).

One time, somebody asked Srila Prabhupad Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur a question. (I have written "108 Questions and Answers" in Guidance 3. If you buy the book, you can find it there.) Many people blow the conch, put some flowers at Gurudev's feet, is this what Krishna consciousness is? No, it is not. This is not Krishna consciousness; it is mano-dharma (mental concoction)

"dvaite bhadra-abhara jnana, saba mano-dharma
'ei bhala', 'ei manda'—ei saba bhrama"

"In the material world, conceptions of good and bad are all mental speculations. Therefore, saying 'This is good' and 'This is bad' is all a mistake."

"I have prayed to the Lord now, and then I forget the Lord and worship Maya." This is what people think Krishna consciousness is about. However, sadhus, Guru, and surrendered souls always think about the Lord—whether they work, run their business, etc., they always think about the Lord.

There is another question also that Srila Prabhupad was asked: What is the duty of man? Srila Prabhupad replied:

Who can chant kirtan? Those who can sing well? No. Those who have the right to chant kirtan. How does one earn that right? Those who can become humble, tolerant, and give honour to others, will get the right to chant kirtan; nobody else has this right.

There is also another question: Are Kali, Krishna, Ganesh, et al. one and the same? No, they are not. One is jagat (world), and the other is Jagannath (master of the world). Jagat and Jagannath are not one and the same. Jagat is the material, mundane world, and Jagannath is the Lord. How can they be one and the same? You can make yoghurt, curd, condensed milk from milk, but you can never make milk from yoghurt. So, Krishna can become Kali, but Kali, Ganesh, or Durga can never become Krishna. You must always remember this.

Many people do not understand this. Many think that Krishna consciousness is like a fair. When people celebrate Durga-puja, they make a four-day festival (sasthi, saptami, astami, navami), bring Durga and then throw her away; and here they are making Gopal-puja now—you bring Gopal, do puja, and finished! Devotion cannot come like this; this only destroys devotion. There is no use doing such 'puja'. Even if you practise this your whole life, even if you practise this for ten million lifetimes, you will not get any result through that.

Devotees go district to district and make devotees from others, this is how large nat mandirs become full. Have you been to Ekachakra this year? This is how devotees practise Krishna consciousness; they take Krishna consciousness seriously. They give up jungles and come here.

prema vanyaya nadiya bhasaila
ninduka-pasandi-gana dhaiya palaiya

"When the Lord flooded Nadiya with divine love, all offenders and faithless people fled at once!"

All faithless people will run away, and those who are pure will stay.

It is necessary to give up pretence and insincerity.

— : • : —

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