Plausible Priority

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Sri Nabadwip Dham Parikrama, Day Four
Evening class, 27 March 2021, part 6
Translated from Bengali

[Regarding one of the present devotees.] The boy is good, simple-hearted. He buys books and reads them, but I want to give him very good service—I want him to leave his job at the hospital and take up a job here (serving to the Deities). When will that happen?... I want to give him a very good job. How long will he work for other people? You must become a bhava-rogi doctor (a doctor for those who suffer from heart disease)

হৃদয় পীড়িত যা'র কৃষ্ণ চিকিৎসক তার
ভবরোগ নাশিতে চতুর ।

hrdaya pirita ja'ra krsna chikitsaka ta'ra
bhava roga nasite chatura

"Krishna is a doctor for those whose hearts are diseased, He is very expert at destroying the heart disease of material existence."

I have many patients—how many can I treat personally? You too must treat them. It will not do if you only chant the Holy Name on your own.

kiniba lutiba, hari-nama-rasa,
nama-rase mati' ha-iba vivasa

"When will I buy and festively scatter the rasa of the Lord's Name? When will I become intoxicated and overwhelmed with that rasa?"

(Saranagati, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

I will 'buy' it from Gurudev and then distribute it to others—I will preach Hari-katha all over the world. If I can manage to bring people to this path, I will do it, otherwise if I cannot (if the disease is very hard), then I will bring them to Gurudev and throw them at his lotus feet. This is how I brought people to Gurudev.

I do not want anything from devotees. I have no desire to pursue religiosity, to gain wealth, material things, or to achieve liberation. I do not need anything. However, if somebody wants to practise Krishna consciousness or somebody actually practises Krishna consciousness, then I am encouraging them to go forward—I help them go forward and try to bring them to this path. "Ara kota kal ghumaibe maya-pisachira kole. How much longer are you going to sleep on the lap of this witch Maya?"

This is how we must practise Krishna consciousness, and we must take Krishna consciousness seriously. Otherwise, you come to Gurudev, take the beads and go away thinking you have become a sadhu—this is wrong.

You chant with your mouth (I heard ** Prabhu singing in the kitchen today), "Guru-mukha-padma-vakya, chittete kariya aikya—make the words from Sri Guru's lotus mouth one with your heart." But does anyone understand and follow the meaning of these words? Tell me. Does anyone realise what these words mean? If I tell anyone, "Stay here," they will run away saying, "No, I have things to do at another place." How many will understand, "I will do what my Gurudev tells me to do"? It is necessary to give priority to what your Guru says, and it is necessary to understand where the priority lies.

One time, a foreign devotee came to India, and Gurudev told him, "Stay here and sit with me." The devotee sat there quietly—Gurudev spoke to others, etc. and he kept sitting without saying anything. Then, another devotee asked him, "What are you doing there sitting with Gurudev?" The devotee said, "Nothing. Gurudev told me to sit, and I sat." "Oh, nothing? Then come with me!" He went with that other devotee to clean the kitchen. He ended up getting busy and had not come to see Gurudev for three days. When he finally came, Gurudev had noticed that he had not seen that devotee all those days, so he said,

"Oh, what has happened? Have you not come all this time because you do not want to see my ugly face?"

Gurudev asked him just like that. The devotee got shy and tried to explain it, and Gurudev asked him, "Where have you been all this time?"

"Another devotee gave me some service," said the devotee.

"Oh, so sitting here is not service? I told you to sit here quietly—that is service. I told you to do nothing and sit here—that is service."

Such was Gurudev's vision. Anyhow, much has been said already. Tomorrow is a very nice day. You must all chant the Holy Name, join the class and kirtans. I will be busy in the morning (giving initiations).

Jay Srila Guru Maharaj ki jay.

[His Divine Grace then sings 'Gurudev bada krpa kari', 'Krpa kara Vaisnav Thakura', 'Gaya Gaura madhura svare.']

— : • : —

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

• Listen to the audio or download (1.4 Mb, 4 min)