At Sri Jagannath Das Babaji Maharaj's Samadhi (2)

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Sri Nabadwip Dham Parikrama, Day Two
Koladwip, 24 March 2021, part 3
Translated from Bengali

We must chant the glories of Vaishnav Thakur. Please listen carefully.

This is Srila Jagannath Das Babaji Maharaj's place. I told you yesterday that when Srila Babaji Maharaj came to Mayapur, he was very happy, "This is my Lord's place!" He lived for 137 years...

[Clamour] Why is there so much noise? This is Srila Babaji Maharaj's samadhi—it is necessary to be quiet, to keep silence here. I do not have any choice—I have to speak because I have not come alone and I need to speak to you. If I had come alone, I would have just come, offered my obeisance and left so that I do not make any offence to the Vaishnav. Srila Babaji Maharaj is residing here eternally, but we do not understand this.

The Lord has given you a mouth to speak about Him; the Lord has give you ears to listen about Him. When you grow old, you will not be able to hear anything—sometimes, you can lose hearing even earlier, before you get old. You can lose the power of speech also—you can be born as a cow and will only know how to make noise. You have got this mouth now not only to speak and eat. If you misuse your mouth in this lifetime, then the Lord will not give it to you again—you will be born as a cow and will only be able to moo. This can happen as a result of offences. It is necessary to speak less. If you speak too much, you will not be able to chant the Holy Name. We are told to chant the Holy Name, not to speak about anything and everything. When you chant the Holy Name, you do not chant loudly, but when you gossip, you are eager to talk about whose wife or son has left home, etc. Do you chant Hare Krishna or do you chant, "Nati, puti, nati, puti? [Grandson, granddaughter, grandson, granddaughter]"? If you chant the Holy Name, you will get everything. It is necessary to believe this. When the scriptures and saints say something, it is necessary to believe it without any hesitation. Chant kirtan with faith.

[His Divine Grace chants 'Ki rupe paibe seva'.]

কিরূপে পাইব সেবা মুঞি দুরাচার ।
শ্রীগুরু-বৈষ্ণবে রতি না হৈল আমার ॥

ki-rupe paiba seva muni durachara
sri-guru-vaisnava rati na haila amara

I am so wicked, how will I ever get service? I do not have any attachment to Sri Guru and Vaishnavs!

What is my position? I am so bad! I could not serve Vaishnavs! We are always involved with maya... We went today to the temple of Praudha Maya. Why do we come to offer our obeisance there? Because we pray, "O Maya Devi! Please give me your mercy so that I can get myself out of your net." We are covered by the net of illusion, and some manage to cut through this net and escape from it.

সংসার সংসার ক'রে মিছে গেল কাল ।
লাভ না হইল কিছু ঘটিল জঞ্জাল ॥
কিসের সংসার এই, ছায়াবাজী প্রায় ।
ইহাতে মমতা করি' বৃথা দিন যায় ॥
দিন যায় মিছা কাজে নিশা নিদ্রাবশে ।
নাহি ভাবি মরণ নিকটে আছে বসে ॥
এদেহ পতন হ'লে কি রবে আমার ।
কেহ সুখ নাহি দিবে পুত্র পরিবার ॥

'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
dina yaya michha kaje, nisa nidra-vase
nahi bhavi marana nikate achhe vase
e deha patana ha'le ki rabe amara?
keha sukha nahi dibe putra paribara

'Time has passed as I have been busy with my material life, and the result is nothing—only garbage. What sort of world is this? It is only a trick, a show. While I affectionately take it as my own, days pass by in vain. My days pass in useless work and nights are wasted on sleep. It never occurs to me that there is death sitting and waiting right next to me. When this body drops dead, what will remain 'mine'? Upon death neither my sons nor my family will give me any satisfaction'.

(Sri Kalyan-Kalpataru, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

Your sons and family will not give you any comfort—you fuss over your grandchildren, but these grandchildren (nati) then take a stick (lathi) and kick you out of your home! You stop kirtan because your grandchildren are crying, and these grandchildren will later kick you out. Children do not like to listen to kirtans—they only like to listen to songs, and when they do not like their parents, they send them to old age homes. What does the father say then? "You have sent me to this old age home, all right, I will keep a room for you next door—you too will get a place here one day! When your son one day becomes like you, he will also kick you out of your home." Why do they send their parents to all age homes? Because their wives nag them. They threaten their husbands, "If you do not get rid of your parents, I will not look after your house! I will go back to my father's house!"

"Shall I keep my family or shall I keep the Lord (kula rakhi na Syama rakhi; শ্যাম রাখি না কুল রাখি)?" Which do you choose? Think about it. You must choose the Lord. Whom did Srimati Radharani choose, Her family or Shyama (the Lord)? She chose the Lord. You must think whom you will choose, your family or the Lord. You must choose Krishna and give up everything else.

We live amidst all this in illusion.

কয় বার এলি কয় বার গেলি
তবু তত্ত্ব না শিখিলি ।
নিজের মাথা নিজে খাইলি
এ দোষ দিবি কারে ভাই ?

kaya bara eli kaya bara geli
tabu tattva na sikhili
nijer matha nije khaili
e-dosa dibe kare bhai?

"Coming and going, coming and going, and never learnt anything. You have been eating your own brain, who will you blame now, brother?"

The fault is ours. Having fallen into this illusory world, I am now living in this prison.

অশেষ মায়াতে মন মগন হইল ।
বৈষ্ণবেতে লেশমাত্র রতি না জন্মিল ॥

asesa mayate mana magana haila
vaisnavete lesa-matra rati na janmila

My mind is endlessly engrossed in maya, and not even a trace of attachment to the Vaishnavs is born within me.

বিষয়ে ভুলিয়া অন্ধ হইনু দিবানিশি ।
গলে ফাঁস দিতে ফেরে মায়া সে পিশাচী ॥

visaye bhuliya andha hainu divanisi
gele phamsa dite phere maya se pisachi

Maya, this witch, has put a noose round my neck, and, becoming blind and forgetting myself in the pleasures of the material world, I pass day and night.

We live engrossed in this material world and become blind—we forget everything. Some boy became blind for two minutes—he began to cry and forgot about the Lord and everything else. People are becoming blind, but they do not even understand it. What happens next? Then, a witch grasps them. What happens when a ghost possesses somebody? Have you ever seen such people? I had one sister who was possessed by a ghost. An exorcist came and recited some mantras. I do not believe these mantras, but then he struck her shadow and a mark appeared on my sister's back—he hit the shadow once, and one mark appeared on her back. Then, some ghost appear, and the exorcist asked it, "What is your name?" The ghost said, "Mosra[?] Singho." "Where do you come from?" "I was on the bridge over there when a car hit me. Since that time, I have been living under or in a tree in the garden nearby." So, one can be possessed by a ghost.

পিশাচী পাইলে যেন মতিচ্ছন্ন হয় ।

মায়াগ্রস্ত জীবের হয় সে ভাব উদয় ॥

pisachi paile yena mati-chchhanna haya
maya-grasta jivera haya se bhava udaya

"Those who are possessed by a ghost become delirious, and the same condition arises in those who are seized by Maya, illusion."

(Sri Sri Prema-vivarta, 6.3)

Just like that, we are all possessed by a ghost—we speak gibberish, "This my house," "This is my room," "This is my son," "This is my relative." We have the noose of material life around our necks.

বিষয়ে ভুলিয়া অন্ধ হইনু দিবানিশি ।
গলে ফাঁস দিতে ফেরে মায়া সে পিশাচী ॥

visaye bhuliya andha hainu divanisi
gele phamsa dite phere maya se pisachi

'Day and night I live in darkness, forgetting myself in material life — this Witch Maya has put a noose round my neck.'

মায়ারে করিয়া জয় ছাড়ান না যায় ।
সাধুকৃপা বিনা আর না দেখি উপায় ॥
(উপায় ত দেখি না)
(মায়ারে করিয়া জয় উপায় ত দেখি না)
(সাধু-কৃপা বিনা উপায় ত দেখি না)

mayare kariya jaya chhadana na yaya
sadhu-krpa bina ara na dekhi upaya
(upaya ta dekhi na)
(mayare kariya jaya upaya ta dekhi na)
(sadhu-krpa bina upaya ta dekhi na)

'You cannot conquer illusory environment and become released from it. I see no other way to get relief except by the mercy of saints and Guru. (I see no way! I see no way to conquer illusory environment! I see no other way except for the mercy of sadhus!)'

অদোষ-দরশি-প্রভু, পতিত-উদ্ধার ।
এইবার নরোত্তমে করহ নিস্তার ॥

adosa-darasi-prabhu, patita-uddhara
ei-bara narottame karaha nistara

'Prabhu, you see no fault in others, you are the saviour of the fallen. Please deliver Narottam this time!'

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