Tottering Intelligence

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Begampur, 7 March 2021, part 4

bhajahu re mana sri-nanda-nandana
abhaya-charanaravinda re
durlabha manava janama sat-sange
taraha e bhava-sindhu re [1]

O mind, serve the son of Nanda's lotus feet, which make one fearless. Having attained this rare human birth, cross over the ocean of material existence by associating with sadhus.

It is very rare to get this human body!

দুর্ল্লভ মানব জন্ম লভিয়া সংসারে ।
কৃষ্ণ না ভজিনু দুঃখ কহিব কাহারে ॥
সংসার সংসার ক'রে মিছে গেল কাল ।
লাভ না হইল কিছু ঘটিল জঞ্জাল ॥
কিসের সংসার এই, ছায়াবাজী প্রায় ।
ইহাতে মমতা করি' বৃথা দিন যায় ॥

durlabha manava-janma labhiya samsare
krsna na bhajinu—duhkha kahiba kahare?
'samsara' 'samsara' ka're michhe gela kala
labha na ha-ila kichhu ghatila janjala
kisera samsara ei, chhayabaji praya
ihate mamata kari' vrtha dina yaya

I have got a very rare human life in this world, but I have not worshipped Lord Krishna. Whom can I tell of my misery? Time has passed in the affairs of material household life, and I have got nothing—only became burdened... As if spellbound, I was attracted to this pointless material life, and being so much engrossed into it I pass my days in vain.

Kalyan-kalpataru, 3.2.4

জলজা নবলক্ষাণি স্থাবরা লক্ষবিংশতি
কৃময়োরুদ্রসঙ্খকাঃ পক্ষিণাং দশলক্ষনম্
ত্রিংশললক্ষাণি পশবঃ চতুরলক্ষাণি মানুষাঃ

jalaja nava-laksani sthavara laksa-vimsati
krmayo rudra-sankhyakah paksinam dasa-laksanam
trimsal-laksani pasavah chatur-laksani manusah

"There are 900,000 species living in the water. There are also 2,000,000 nonmoving living entities, such as trees and plants. There are also 1,100,000 species of insects and reptiles, and there are 1,000,000 species of birds. As far as quadrupeds are concerned, there are 3,000,000 varieties, and there are 400,000 human species."

(Padma Purana)

After 8 400 000 species you have got this human body, and you have also got good association—you got a bona fide guru, our Gurudev! Even though you have got all this, you need to practise. It is necessary to practise and to have patience. We sometimes lose patience thinking, "Oh, I took initiation thirty years ago!" We think about that and start reducing our practice. You have got this rare human birth—you can cross the Viraja River and go to your real home. How? By spending this life in sat-sanga, good association. How much we are struggling! Winter and summer come and go, and we are suffering so much from heat, cold, rain, etc. This is how our days are passing.

sita atapa vata varisana
e dina yamini jagi re
viphale sevinu krpana durajana
chapala sukha-lava lagi' re [2]

Day and night I remain awake, suffering from the heat and the cold, the wind and the rain. For a moment of flickering happiness I have uselessly served wicked and miserly men.

We struggling so much serving others all in vain. Who do we worship? Who do we serve? We serve material life!

গর্দ্দভের মত আমি করি পরিশ্রম ।
কার লাগি' এত করি না ঘুচিল ভ্রম ॥

gardabhera mata ami kari parisrama
kara lagi' eta kari, na ghuchila bhrama

I toil laboriously like a donkey. For whom am I doing this? Still my illusion has not been dispelled.

For whom or for what do we struggle so much? We will have to leave everything here—money, wealth, house, etc—we will leave everything and go to the cremation ghat.

smasane sarira mama padiya rahibe
vihanga-patanga taya vihara karibe [10]

My body will be laid to rest at the crematorium. There birds and insects will enjoy it.

You keep saving what you earn, but you must spend what you earn on the Lord, on the service to the Lord and devotees. Some people tell me, "Why do you build so many big buildings? You have already made so many buildings at the main temple and you had to leave it! Now you are making another building!" What must I do with the money then? Hoard it? I make buildings so that devotees can come and stay there, otherwise where will they go? Besides, I did not leave the main temple of my own accord—they forcefully removed me. They wanted to kill me, this was their plan, but the Lord gives us lifetime, so they could not do it.

sita atapa vata varisana
e dina yamini jagi re
viphale sevinu krpana durajana
chapala sukha-lava lagi' re [2]

Day and night I remain awake, suffering from the heat and the cold, the wind and the rain. For a moment of flickering happiness I have uselessly served wicked and miserly men.

Why must we be misers? For the sake of your so called relatives who are all disguised dacoits svajanakya-dasyu (স্বজনাখ্য দস্যু)? They call me and ask, "Why do you not answer my call?" They are disguised dacoits, that is why. They look like relatives, but in fact they always suck your blood. You know, if the husband gets pension and dies, the wife will get his pension after his death—even after his death, he does not get free, she will be taking his pension (sucking his blood) even after his death! Who do you do so many things for? No matter what we do, our illusion does not go away, instead of that we are only losing our intelligence.

e dhana, yauvana, putra, parijana
ithe ki achhe paratiti re
kamala-dala-jala jivana talamala
bhajahu hari-pada niti re [3]

What is there in having wealth, youth, sons, and family? Life is tottering like water on a lotus petal (it is here, and then it is gone). O mind, serve the Lord's feet.

When we are young, many girls look at us, but once we become old, nobody looks at us anymore; when girls are young, everybody looks at them, and when they get old, nobody looks at them. So, wealth, youth—all this will go, you will not be able to take anything with you. If you have money, everybody will spend that money after you—and if you have no money, nobody will stay by your side. Have you ever seen a Muslim funeral? So many people come! When a poor man dies, not even four people come, but when a rich man dies, two hundred people will come to eat and feast and drink wine at his funeral, and they also bring a goat with them! I have seen it in Nabadwip. They go to the cremation ghat with some goats by the side—they kill them after cremation and eat their meat. What for are you struggling so much? Have you seen water on a lotus? It totters, totters and as soon as you touch it, it falls down. Our life is just as uncertain. Once you step on the street, nobody guarantees that you will return—you walk with death in your pocket.

sravana, kirtana, smarana, vandana
pada-sevana, dasya re
pujana, sakhi-jana, atma-nivedana
govinda-dasa-abhila sare [4]

Govinda Das desires to engage in the nine practices of devotion: hearing about, glorifying, remembering, praying to, attending to, serving, worshipping, befriending, and surrendering to the Lord.

There are nine types of devotion: sravanam, kirtanam, smaranam, pada-sevanam, archanam, vandanam, dasyam, sakhyam, atma-nivedanam—hearing, chanting, remembering the Lord, serving the Lord's lotus feet, worshipping the Deity of the Lord, offering obeisance, rendering service as a servitor, as a friend, and self-submission. When Hiranyakasipu asked Prahlad Maharaj, "What is the highest thing you have learned at school?" Prahlad Maharaj answered saying that the highest thing he had learned was this nava-vidha bhakti (nine-fold devotion). Prahlad Maharaj was only five years old at that time. This is the highest thing in life—to hear and chant the glories of the Lord, to take the Name of the Lord. That is the only aim in life. Sravanam, kirtanam, good association is our main goal in life. This is what we need the most in our life.

[His Divine Grace then chants 'Jaya Radha Madhava' and concludes the kirtans with the Hare Krishna maha-mantra.]

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