Mercy and Service

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Siliguri—Worldwide, 26 April 2021, part 2

Question: How can I place myself on the plane of devotion if I have material desires in my heart?...

You should practise properly, chant the Holy Name and always keep good association, then if any material desire comes, it will be removed through good association, through sravanam and kirtanam. Somebody asked Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur Prabhupad this same question, and Srila Prabhupad gave this answer that I have told you just now. Srila Prabhupad says that if you want to overcome material desires, you must properly practise sravanam and kirtanam.

How do you practise sravanam and kirtanam? You must chant five kirtans every morning and five kirtans every evening. Chant Gurudev's kirtan, Pancha-tattva's kirtan, Vaishnav Thakur's kirtan, Nityananda Prabhu's kirtan, Gaura Hari's kirtan, Radha-Krishna's kirtan, and then the maha-mantra. In this way, chant five-six kirtans every morning and evening. You must give time to your Deities, to chanting the Holy Name, to sravanam and kirtanam, then you will gradually be able to overcome material desires—material desires will be removed from your heart. This is 100%, 200% sure. There is no doubt about that. If you practise and sing these kirtans properly every day, then you will be all right. I am telling this to everybody, not only for the person who is asking the questions. This answer applies to everybody—those who practise five kirtans in the morning and five kirtans in the evening, who practise every day and chant the Holy Name, can overcome material desires.

Question: We always hear that we must try to get mercy, but who should we really ask for that mercy?

Mercy means your Gurudev gives you some service and if you properly attend to that service, that is your mercy. And yes, you must wait for mercy—if you can get some service from your Guru, that is his mercy. I have told many times what is mercy. You chant the Holy Name, but what for do you chant the Holy Name? If you get service, that is the result of your chanting. A chatak bird always waits for a drop of rainwater, and in the same way we must always wait when Gurudev gives us some service. It can be any service. Sometimes, Gurudev will call somebody and say, "Oh, send some money for this service," that is service and they do that; somebody else cleans plates, brooms, cooks, does so many other kinds of service. Everything is service. I am in Siliguri, but if somebody stays in Nrisingha Palli where the construction is going on and sends pictures of the construction, that is also service. Somebody also sends pictures of preaching in their countries—that is also service.

Actually, now I have learned to use my android mobile phone, and from time to time I see the pictures devotees send in whatsapp from their own country, I see what kind of practising is going on there. I practise seeing these photos now. Sometimes, when I read for a long time and become tired, I take out the phone and browse through the photo, I see what programmes devotees have. I am very happy to see it. I always like to see preaching programmes. I want to see how much preaching is going on in your country, how you are preaching.

It is necessary to preach—'kiniba, lutiba Harinama rasa'; you take the Holy Name from your Gurudev and you must distribute it after that. There are so many devotees all over the world, and if each of you makes at least one devotee within a year, that is sufficient. If there are two hundred devotees this year, then there will be four hundred next year and eight hundred in two years. You must increase your preaching programme and spread Krishna consciousness all over the world. That is my request and you can say it is my order for everyone. This is your service (seva). OK?

বৈষ্ণব সঙ্গেতে মন আনন্দিত অনুক্ষণ
সদা হয় কৃষ্ণ পরসঙ্গ ।

vaisnava sangete mana anandita anuksana
sada haya krsna para-sanga

"In the association of Vaishnavs, my mind is always joyful—in their association I always get the association of Krishna."

('Thakura Vaishnava pada' by Srila Narottam Das Thakur)

When you are getting good association, you are actually getting the association of the Lord Himself.

These Deities here in Siliguri were chosen by Gurudev in 2005. One time, Gurudev took me with him to the man who makes Deities (murti-walla) in Nabadwip. He showed me these Deities and asked, "Do you like these Deities?" I said I did, and then Gurudev said, "Then you can take Them!" After a few days, Gurudev brought these Deities to the temple and asked me, "Where are you going to install Them?" We thought They could be perhaps installed in Malaysia, but then I bought this house here in Siliguri, and Gurudev told me that I could take these Deities and install Them here. These Deities's Name is Sri Sri Guru Gauranga Gandharva Govinda Sundar...

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