Dacoit Dharma

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Sri Nabadwip Dham Parikrama, Day One
Evening class, 23 March 2021, part 3
Translated from Bengali

কৃষ্ণ যদি ছুটে ভক্তে ভুক্তি মুক্তি দিয়া ।
কভু ভক্তি না দেন রাখেন লুকাইয়া ॥

krsna yadi chhute bhakte bhukti mukti diya
kabhu prema-bhakti na dena rakhena lukaiya

"If you ask Krishna for anything except devotion, He can give you those things—bhukti, mukti, liberation, and so on—but He will hide devotion from you. You will not get devotion."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Adi-lila, 8.18)

Remember this. Gurudev always told this to me. He told me one-two times, "You always run behind big buildings, etc., but watch out that Bhakti does not go away." Gurudev gave his mercy and by his mercy bhakti has never gone away. It is said in this sloka that if you ask the Lord for something in lieu of devotion (if you want money, wealth, etc.), then the Lord will hide devotion from you. I told you earlier today—what boon did Sridhar Pandit want from Mahaprabhu? "May He who has been stealing my thor, bananas, banana flowers, etc. and fighting with me, be my master birth after birth." When will we become like that too? We sing in one of the kirtans,

কবে হবে বল, সে দিন আমার ।
অপরাধ ঘুচি' শুদ্ধ নামে রুচি
কৃপা-বলে হবে হৃদয়ে সঞ্চার ॥

kabe habe bala se dina amara
aparadha ghuchi suddha name ruchi
krpa-bale ha'be hrdaye sanchara

"Please tell me, when will that day be mine? When will my offences be removed? When will the taste for the pure Name arise in my heart by the power of mercy?"

('Kabe habe bolo, se dina amar?' by Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur)

We cannot forget our own happiness, we cannot sacrifice our own life. The Lord has given us this life, has given us this life force, we have got a human form to practise Krishna consciousness (to serve the Lord), then why are you using this body for other things? Why are you using this body for your own food, money, clothes, sleep?! Relaxed, you are spending your days on all this.

শীত আতপ বাত বরিষণ
এ দিন যামিনী জাগি রে ।
বিফলে সেবিনু কৃপণ দুরজন
চপল সুখলব লাগি' রে ॥

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

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.

How much cold, so many rains come and days are passing. People sleep here in the nat mandir and spend five-seven days like this. What is the problem? They will go for the parikrama, come back, listen to the kirtan and then sleep again. They have it better than even those who are staying in the rooms—those who are staying in the rooms sleep and do not come for the arati, but when you are staying right here at the nat mandir, you always come for the arati. Many also refused to go to the new guesthouse saying it is too far, they said they would stay in the nat mandir or on the veranda. Many say, "I do not need a room." I offered them to go to the new building, but they said they would stay here. There are bathrooms and everything else here. There is no problem.

এই আছে এই নাই জীবন টলমল
ভজহুঁ হরিপদ নিতি রে

kamala-dala-jala jivana talamala
(ei achhe ei nai jivana talamala)
bhajahu hari-pada niti re

Life is shaky—it is here now, and then it is gone. Serve the Lord's feet! O mind, serve the Lord's feet.

শীত আতপ বাত বরিষণ
এ দিন যামিনী জাগি রে ।
বিফলে সেবিনু কৃপণ দুরজন
চপল সুখলব লাগি' রে ॥

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

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.

Fickle-minded, we always serve for the sake of our own happiness, but all this service goes in vain. Srila Prabhupad Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur said that we call somebody our 'relatives', 'family' members, 'friends', etc. and follow the religion of serving our father (pita-dharma), the religion of serving our friends (bandhu-dharma), the religion of serving our mother (mata-dharma), but this is now how Krishna consciousness is practised. Father say, "You are my son, you must serve me, why will you go to stay at the temple?" Mothers also say the same thing, "I have given you birth, you must look after me! Why will you worry about the Lord?" This is the eternal misery. They are all svajanakya-dasyu (স্বজনাখ্য দস্যু, dacoits disguised as well-wishing family). You think they are your well-wishers, but they actually take away your benefit from you. When sadhu, guru, and Vaishnavs take something from you, they do not take it to enjoy—bona fide sadhus use everything for the service of the Lord. Those who are enjoyers always want to enjoy everything themselves—they always want to eat well, to dress well, to sleep well. But time is passing!

কাম, ক্রোধ, লোভ, মোহ, মদ, অভিমান সহ
আপন আপন স্থানে টানে ।
ঐছন আমার মন ফিরে যেন অন্ধজন
সুপথ বিপথ নাহি জানে ॥

kama, krodha, lobha, moha, mada, abhimana saha
apana apana sthane tane
aichana amara mana phire yena andha jana
supatha vipatha nahi jane

"Lust, anger, greed, illusion, pride, and ego all pull me in their own directions. Thus my mind wanders like a blind man who does not know the right way from the wrong way."

We always want more, want more, want more!

শীত আতপ বাত বরিষণ
এ দিন যামিনী জাগি রে ।
বিফলে সেবিনু কৃপণ দুরজন
চপল সুখলব লাগি' রে ॥

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

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.

This is all useless service. Service to your wife, service to your father, mother, friends—all this is useless. That is why it is said that you get a father and a mother in every birth, but it is not in every birth that you will get a bona fide guru. Taking initiation from a guru means service to the guru.

এ ধন যৌবন পুত্র পরিজন
ইথে কি আছে পরতীতি রে ।
কমল দল জল, জীবন টলমল
ভজহুঁ হরিপদ নিতি রে ॥

e dhana, yauvana, putra, parijana
ithe ki achhe paratiti re
kamala-dala-jala jivana talamala
(ei achhe ei nai jivana talamala)
bhajahu hari-pada niti re

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.

Sri Govinda Das is writing this. All this wealth, youth, sons, and family will have to leave from me one day or I will have to leave them all. One day it must happen. We can leave this world at any moment—we can be speaking and die while speaking! Bhajahu hari-pada niti re! We must worship the Lord, we must practise Krishna consciousness.

শ্রবণ, কীর্ত্তন, স্মরণ, বন্দন,
পাদসেবন দাস্যরে ।
পূজন, সখীজন, আত্মনিবেদন
গোবিন্দ দাস অভিলাষ রে ॥

sravana, kirtana, smarana, vandana
pada-sevana, dasya re
pujana, sakhi-jana, atma-nivedana
govinda-dasa-abhilasare

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.

— : • : —

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

• Listen to the audio or download (1.8 Mb, 5 min)