Temporal Distortions

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Sri Nabadwip Dham Parikrama, Day Four
Evening class, 27 March 2021, part 9
Translated from Bengali

Tell me now, does anyone have any questions? I have been talking for so many days, does anyone have any questions in the meantime?

[Somebody says they have a questions. Knowing the person's mood, His Divine Grace says:] I will not take your question.

তদ্­বিদ্ধি প্রণিপাতেন পরিপ্রশ্নেন সেবয়া ।
উপদেক্ষ্যন্তি তে জ্ঞানং জ্ঞানিনস্তত্ত্বদর্শিনঃ ॥

tad viddhi pranipatena, pariprasnena sevaya
upadeksyanti te jnanam, jnaninas tattva-darsinah

"You will be able to attain knowledge by satisfying the divine master with submission, relevant inquiry, and sincere service. The enlightened souls who are learned in scriptural knowledge and endowed with direct realisation of the Supreme Absolute Truth will impart divine knowledge to you."

(Bhagavad-gita, 4.34)

First become surrendered, then you can ask questions. One does not become surrendered just by paying a sastanga-dandavat.

[An indistinct question related to family matters and offering bhog to the Deity of Gopal four times a day.] Do it then at the time when you can, what else can you do? [The devotees asks something further related to family matters.] What can you do? Hiranyakasipu was a demon, but his son is Prahlad Maharaj, he was a devotee. Prahlad Maharaj's son Virochan was a dacoit. What can one do? Prahlad was a great sadhu, a great Vaishnav, there is no other such Vaishnav like him in this world, the Lord Himself took him on His lap and petted him, and the son of this Prahlad Maharaj was a demon. Yet the son of Virochan was Bali Maharaj and he was good—he associated with Prahlad Maharaj and came to this line. So, what is the use thinking about all this? What can I do about it? You can try to bring your child here...

[Another indistinct question about worshipping Gopal Deity.] What will you do then if you keep Gopal Deity? Keep Him there without feeding Him? My first question to those who ask this is "Do you eat meat and fish at home?" [The devotee says they are vegetarians.] If you cook vegetarian food, then you can offer bhog to the Lord. You have children at home, do you not feed them? You feed your children, you eat yourself also. When you keep the Lordships in the house, you must give up eating unoffered food. You know that women get a period every month—when women get their period, this is a bodily disease and according to the rules they become contaminated, but does it mean that the Lord will be kept starving for those four-five days? The offence will be even more then. They must take a bath, wear clean clothes, and they can offer the bhog to the Lord, what is the problem? Otherwise, if there is anyone else who can offer the bhog, they can do it; if not, then they must offer. What is the problem? [The devotee says that people criticise.] What others say is not the point. I have told you—do not gossip and do not listen to gossips. First, it is necessary to be surrendered. First become surrendered yourself, then others will listen to you, otherwise who will listen to you?

Are there any questions?

[An indistinct question about Sriman Nityananda Prabhu's lineage and birthplace.] Yes, at first the line flowed properly, but later it turned into sahajiya, aul, baul, etc. You will see the same also happen in the line of Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur. I have told you before that Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur had eleven sons, and one of the brothers of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur was Lalita Prasad (who did not follow Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur's line). Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur's birthplace is in Ulagram, Birnagar, and Lalita Prasad became the head of the sampradaya at that place. Many of the places of Mahaprabhu's pastimes (Katwa, Gambhira, Raghav Pandit's house, etc.) turned into places of aul, baul, karttabhaja, neda, daravesa, sani, sakhibheki, jata-goswami. So, similarly, Virachanda Prabhu kept the line flowing properly, and after him it slowly became distorted. My Gurudev's father also sang lila-kirtans at different houses and earned money in this way. He also initiated people—anyone could come to him and he would give them initiation without any reservation; people could eat meat, fish, etc. Bamunpara's Deities are over four hundred years old, and Bamunpara itself was also a part of Nityananda Prabhu's line, but it gradually became distorted and sahajiya line appeared there.

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