Do Not Shun Service

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Sri Nabadwip Dham Parikrama, Day Three
Evening class, 26 March 2021, part 2
Translated from Bengali

There are nine kinds of devotion, among which sadhu-sanga, Nama-sankirtan, etc. are the main practices.

আদৌশ্রদ্ধা ততঃ সাধুসঙ্গোঽথ ভজনক্রিয়া ।
ততোঽনর্থনিবৃত্তিঃ স্যাৎ ততো নিষ্ঠা রুচিস্ততঃ ॥
অথাসক্তিস্ততো ভাবস্ততঃ প্রেমাভ্যুদঞ্চতি ।
সাধকানাময়ং প্রেম্ণঃ প্রাদুর্ভাবে ভবেৎ ক্রমঃ ॥

adau sraddha tatah sadhu-sango 'tha bhajana-kriya
tato 'nartha-nivrttih syat tato nistha ruchis tatah
athasaktis tato bhavas tatah premabhyudanchati
sadhakanam ayam premnah pradurbhave bhavet kramah

"In the beginning there is faith, then good association, then practising life. After that, the offences gradually go away, faith becomes stronger, taste comes, then attachment, then there arises affection and love. This is how love to God comes to those who practise Krishna consciousness."

(Sri Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhuh, 1.4.15-16)

Among these steps of progress on the path of devotion, there is asakti—attachment. We must always have attachment to spiritual life. Our attachment is always kept in some other place, whereas we have no attachment to the service of Krishna, to the practice of Krishna consciousness. We sing in one of the kirtans written by Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur,

aparadha-sunya haye laya krsna-nama
tabe jiva krsna-prema labhe avirama

"When souls, free from offences, chant the Name of Krishna, they quickly attain divine love for Krishna."

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?"

"When will my offences be destroyed and my heart chant the Holy Name?..."

Those of you who are going home after the festival must practise properly at home. I am not telling any of you to go, but I see that some have left already... [A devotee tries to give an explanation for devotees' leaving—they had heard that trains would stop running, so they left earlier to avoid being stuck.] Who is telling these lies? It is lies. I am telling you somebody is spreading rumours. I heard yesterday some men talking at the ghat. One of them was saying, "There are rumours that a huge cyclone is coming." But the newspapers say that no cyclone is expected. People are telling lies.

You know, at the time of Gaura Purnima it is necessary to work so hard—it is necessary to do so many things, to give rooms to the devotees who come, to take care of everything, to make sure everything runs smoothly, to go to the market, etc. And I do everything alone. Now I have given some responsibility partially to Sripad Niriha Maharaj and Sripad Vishnu Maharaj. Anyhow, before the festival, one-two men from Nabadwip (I do not want to tell their names) came to me and said, "Oh, there will be no buses or trains running at Gaura Purnima time!" I asked them, "Where did you get this news?" He said, "Oh, so-and-so Prabhu said it." I asked that Prabhu, and he said, "Oh, a ricksha driver told me!" Do you see? Only those who have little service mood can do or say such things.

When ** Prabhu told me that trains would not run, I did not believe it. I do not believe things just like that. I asked him, "Where did you hear that trains would not run?" He said, "I know one man who works at the train station, he told me that." I did not believe it. People make up all kinds of excuses to leave. What do you think will happen? What obstacle are you afraid of? The whole matter is that they have started election in West Bengal and to get all the farmers to vote they prohibited all religious gatherings. Everybody is expected to show up at the election commission, so government does not want anyone to go to any religious gatherings. So, all these rumours about cyclones, trains stopping, etc. are just excuses. Those who do not want to serve the Lord, will listen to this and leave. This is all gossips. "Gramya-katha na sunibe, gramya-varta na kahibe." Do not listen to village talks, do not listen to village news. Mahaprabhu told this to Srila Raghunath Das Goswami. If you want to follow Mahaprabhu's teaching, then you must not hear village talks (gossips) and you must not speak about village news (gossips).

গ্রাম্যকথা না শুনিবে, গ্রাম্যবার্ত্তা না কহিবে ।
ভাল না খাইবে আর ভাল না পরিবে ॥
অমানী মানদ হঞা কৃষ্ণনাম সদা ল'বে ।
ব্রজে রাধাকৃষ্ণ সেবা মানসে করিবে ॥

gramya-katha na sunibe, gramya-varta na kahibe
bhala na khaibe ara bhala na paribe
amani manada hana krsna-nama sada la'be
vraje radha-krsna seva manase karibe

"Do not listen to the mundane talks, do not listen to the mundane news. Do not eat fancy food, do not wear fancy clothes. Do not expect honour to yourself, but offer all respect to others. Always chant the Holy Name of Krsna, and in your mind serve Radha-Krsna."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Antya-lila, 6.236-237)

You have not come to this world to eat well and dress well. I always tell everyone—cook only some potato and rice for me. Because I am going on parikrama and have to exert myself (I walk, I sweat a lot, etc.), my blood sugar can fall down, that is why I am eating rice three times a day now. If I eat rotis, I will get sick. I like aloo-siddho [potato mashed with chilli, salt, and mustard oil] very much and tok dal [dal with pieces of green mango]. It is not necessary to make anything else. This is what I ate today in the morning, for example. So, I do not need anything special—I did not come from a zamindar's house, neither was I born in a zamindar's house. Somebody's parents may have been zamindars, but that is another matter—as for me, I was not born in a zamindars' family, I worked hard myself to grow up, to get education, etc. and to achieve everything. I have worked hard from my childhood. Wherever I went, I worked very hard to earn my position. When I came to the temple I started from the ground, from the drain level—I worked very hard and cleaned stool at the goshala. People did not believe it. I used to teach at a college, but, when I came to the temple, I worked in the goshala. I did not care what people said—I liked working in the goshala, and I still sometimes go to the goshala in Ekachakra, Tarakeshwar or here and feed the cows. I like goshalas, and Gurudev also told me, "If you serve cows, the Lord will be very happy." Krishna Himself served cows. Not only that, Krishna Himself served Vaishnavs—He would invite Vaishnavs, and when Vaishnav guests came, He would take their shoes, clean them, and keep them nicely to the side! Krishna Himself took up this service. Yet here, when somebody takes sannyas, they often think, "Oh, I have become a sannyasi, everybody must serve me!" This is a wrong conception. Sannyasis are captains—when fighting against Maya, captains must go first and handle Maya. Sannyasis must not only go forward first, but they must serve more. Mahaprabhu distributed Jagannath prasadam and fed all the devotees who came to Puri with His own hand. Everybody sat with their plates full, but nobody started to eat—they said to Mahaprabhu, "Prabhu, nobody will start eating until You sit down and eat Yourself." Then, Mahaprabhu had to sit down and eat. This is how Mahaprabhu Himself served everyone.

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