Take Care of Yourself

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Kolkata—Worldwide, 2 May 2021, part 1

Hari bol. Dandavat.

Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay
Visva-varenya Srila Guru Maharaj ki jay
Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay
Om Vishnupad Bhagavan Sri Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami Thakur Prabhupad ki jay
Rupanuga-guru-varga ki jay
Namacharya Haridas Thakur ki jay
Vrinda Devi, Tulasi Devi, Sri Bhakti Devi ki jay
Sri Shyama Kunda, Radha Kunda, Sri Giri Govardhan ki jay
Sri Mayapur Dham, Sri Nabadwip Dham, Sri Vrindavan, Mathura ki jay
Sri Purusottam Ksetra ki jay
Baladev Subhadra Jagannathjiu ki jay
Akar Math-raj Sri Chaitanya Math ki jay
Mayapur Yogapith ki jay
Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math ki jay
Tandiya sakha Math samuha ki jay
Sri Mather sevak vrinda, bhakta-vrinda ki jay
Ananta-koti Vaishnav vrinda ki jay
Sri Gaudiya Acharya vrinda ki jay
Tridandi-pad-gan ki jay
Saparsada Sriman Nityananda Prabhu ki jay
Saparsada Sriman Mahaprabhu ki jay
Bhakta-prabara Prahlad Maharaj ki jay
Suddha-bhaktir-vighnar vinasankari Bhagavan Nrisinghadev ki jay
Srila Bhakti Pavan Janardan Maharaj ki jay
Srila Bhakti Kusum Ashram Maharaj ki jay
All the assembled sannyasi-vrinda ki jay
Sripad Bhakti Nandan Sadhu Maharaj ki jay
All the worldwide devotees ki jay
Harinam sankirtan ki jay
Nitai Gaura premanande Hari bol

I can see all the devotees, all the good-hearted devotees—I can see that they are all still continuing the programme, continue practising Krishna consciousness, and come to meet with us every week—and that is giving me so much pleasure.

Dandavat, Srila Ashram Maharaj, how are you? Please accept my humble obeisance.

Srila Ashram Maharaj: Dandavat. Please accept my humble obeisance at your feet. I am fine, Maharaj. How are you? How is your health?

I am a little tired today, I do not know what has happened.

I could not sleep last night because I was worried about the result of the election in Bengal, and today I have heard the news that the election result is not favourable for the devotees. That is probably why I am a little tired today. Mamata Banerjee has again, for the third time, come to be the chief minister of Bengal for five years, and she is not favourable to devotees. This is why we are a little worried, and this is why I am feeling a little tired today. I was very worried about the election result and could not sleep the whole night, but I took some rest today at noon for one and a half hours...

Devotee: Maharaj, but it is the same—whether this party comes or that party comes, they are the same...

No... Only those who are suffering can understand it. I have been ousted from Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math only because of them...

Anyhow, I am very eager to meet with the devotees. That is my priority. At present, all the devotees are also afraid—so many devotees in Delhi, Bengal, Gujarat, Bombay, and South India are now affected by covid— and I am praying to the Lord, praying to Gurudev, "Please, give some energy to them so that they can fight against this covid." I am getting many news from various places that devotees are suffering because of covid. There is already one devotee in Delhi who has passed away recently, and his son (rather young, thirty-eight years old) is in ICU (Intensive Care Unit) at present, fighting against covid, getting oxygen... It is very sad news for us. Moreover, there are many of our devotees who are doctors (Krishna Kanta Prabhu, Rama Sundar Prabhu, and many others) and they all work in hospitals. I am also worried about them. Madhumangal Prabhu is in isolation at his home, he is also covid positive, and his wife, a pregnant lady, is also covid positive. I am praying for them. I have talked with Madhumangal Prabhu today, I told him not to worry, and he also says, "Maharaj, I am not worried." So, we must all be very careful in this situation. Actually, I have also taken some risk recently. I have been to Vrindavan after Gaura Purnima, I have been to Siliguri, I gave lectures there, I have been to many other places attending preaching programmes. I know I have taken very much risk, but now I am in the room and I have told all the devotees here in Dum Dum Park (Kolkata), "Please, control yourself. Do not go out." I have told them also that everybody must use sanitisers and a mask. It is a must.

We have a second wave of coronavirus in the country, and it is very dangerous—it is spreading very fast. There are more than four hundred thousand people attacked by covid every day, and almost four thousand people die every day in India, and more than a hundred people die in West Bengal every day. This is the situation now—we must all be careful. I am also controlling myself [I am not going out so much]. I know I also have to be careful... Devotees' nature is to be very humble, tolerant and to give honour to others, and in this situation we must have tolerance.

I know that there has been a lockdown for one year in many countries, and the financial condition all over the world is very bad, everybody is suffering, but amidst all this devotees are still thinking about me, they are still thinking about Gurudev, and I am not only thanking them for that—to say 'thank you' is a very small thing—but I am saying to them: Gurudev's mercy, the Lord's mercy is always with them. Devotees always try to help and take care of Gurudev's Mission as much as it is possible by them, as much as it is within their capacity, and if we all stay together in this way, we can overcome everything.

The problem is that we all have ego. This is the problem in our spiritual life. We cannot stay united because of our ego. We do not give proper attention to the devotees, we do not take proper care of the devotees. This is the result that must come when there is a lack of preaching. In this age of Kali, only few persons will join Krishna consciousness, and even when people join, those of them who do not have so much sukriti will not be able to continue their spiritual life—they will leave this path, leave Krishna consciousness. That is why, we must chant more and more, we must preach more and more, and we must practise more and more. Always continue following all the rules and regulations—we must distribute the teachings that we have got from our Gurudev to others.

I know it is very difficult. We say we must be humble, tolerant and give honour to others, it is very easy to say this, but it is very difficult to apply and produce this in our own selves. Even I myself do not have so much tolerance, I do not have so much humility, and I also cannot give respect to others. That is my very bad quality, but Gurudev has accepted me as his servant, as his dog to protect his devotees and his mission, and I can only try to do that—if I am ever successful, it is possible only by the mercy of the devotees and by the mercy of Gurudev because I myself do not have any quality or qualification...

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