Tired of Struggling?

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Basirhat, noon programme, 28 February 2021, part 5
Translated from Bengali

We must practise Krishna consciousness with religious determination and firmness (nistha), but the problem is that we cannot give up small things and cannot genuinely come to the pure path. We blame the Lord, "Oh, the Lord is not taking care of me! The Lord is giving me hardships!" but the Lord will take us to Himself. Through a little bit of sadness, pain, hardships, suffering, He will wash and clean us and take us to Himself. The more you suffer, the more mercy you have—you will struggle with food, clothes, etc., but the more you will call the Lord, the more austerity He will give you! You must remember this! You will get austerity! However, if I get austerity and pass all the tests successfully, then I can get to the Lord! I can reach my own home! What do sadhus come to you for? Genuine sadhus come to tell you all this and tell you to bring people to this path. If even only one person comes to this path to practise Krishna consciousness, this brings ten million times more benefit.

Prabhupad Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur said: instead of making ten million hospitals, instead of tending to ten million patients, you will get ten million times more benefit if you bring just one person who is averse to Krishna to this path. It is necessary to become real sadhus, real devotees. We live only thinking about our own happiness and enjoyment:

কৃষ্ণ-বহির্ম্মুখ হঞা ভোগ বাঞ্ছা করে ।

নিকটস্থ মায়া তারে জাপটিয়া ধরে ॥

krsna-bahirmukha hana bhoga vanchha kare
nikatastha maya tare japatiya dhare

"When souls become averse to Krishna and desire enjoyment, nearby Maya seizes them."

(Sri Sri Prema-vivarta, 6.2)

Maya is always near, and she slowly, slowly comes and grasps those souls who live enjoying, who desire enjoyment. If you want to enjoy, thinking, "What will I eat? What will I wear? How will I sleep? Where will I live?"—if I always only think about myself, then the Lord says, "I will not think about you, I will not worry about you. Yet if you leave everything to Me, then I will take care of you." That is why, it is said:

ষড়ঙ্গ শরণাগতি হইবে যাঁহার ।
তাঁহার প্রার্থনা শুনে শ্রীনন্দকুমার ॥

sad-anga saranagati ha-ibe yahara
tahara prarthana sune sri-nanda-kumara

"Sri Krishna hears the prayers of those who surrender in this six-fold way."

When Duhsasan and Duryodhan tried to disrobe Draupadi, Draupadi tried to protect herself by pulling on her clothes and resisting, and the Lord did not protect her. When she saw she could not protect herself alone, she raised one arm in prayer to the Lord and was still trying to keep her clothes on with her other hand. The Lord did not protect her even then. When she finally became hopeless, she called out to the Lord with both her hands upraised, letting off her clothes—she surrendered everything to the Lord, "Prabhu, You are mine, and I am Yours. Only You can protect me, nobody else can." Then, the Lord actually became her clothes and made so that no matter how much Duhsasan and Duryodhan pulled and pulled, the cloth never finished.

In this way, the Lord has sent Kali-yuga to this world, and He has also sent Maya. Maya Devi cheats us and keeps us away from the service of the Lord. She removes us and keeps us away from the Lord! However, if we become genuinely surrendered, then Maya will run far away from us. Krishna created Maya, and it is said,

কৃষ্ণ ভুলি' সেই জীব অনাদি-বহির্ম্মুখ ।
অতএব মায়া তারে দেয় সংসারাদি-দুঃখ ॥

krsna bhuli' sei jiva anadi-bahirmukha
ataeva maya tare deya samsaradi-duhkha

Having forgotten Krishna, the soul wanders throughout the universe. Being thus covered by illusion, the soul goes through all kinds of material suffering.

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 20.117)

Because we have forgotten the Lord, we are now suffering from the three-fold miseries of this world. The only way for us to save ourselves from this suffering is to take shelter at the holy lotus feet of the Lord. That is why, it is said, "Bhagavata pada Vaisnavera sthane, ekanta asraya kara Chaitanya-charane! (ভাগবত পড় বৈষ্ণবের স্থানে, একান্ত আশ্রয় কর চৈতন্য-চরণে) Read Bhagavatam under the guidance of bona fide Vaishnavs and take shelter at Mahaprabhu's lotus feet!" We must read Bhagavatam among Vaishnavs, and we must take shelter of Mahaprabhu's lotus feet.

Jay Srila Guru Maharaj ki jay.

Let us chant some kirtan now.

[His Divine Grace then chants 'Sri Guru-charana-padma' and then continues the class.]

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