Control the Root

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Year 2012

The mind is always naughty, but you must follow Gurudev's instruction.

You are a young boy and sometimes you do something a little wrong, but it is forgivable, because those who are surrendered souls have no offence. Practice makes perfect—it is not necessary to be a big scholar or a big scientist. Which university did Srimati Radharani go to? Did She go to Cambridge or Oxford? Radharani studied in Krishna university. She never went to Cambridge or Oxford, but we worship Her. Nityananda Prabhu left His house when He was 12 years old; what school did He go to after that?

Mercy comes from above, but your pot must be empty—you must remove the ego that you are a great scholar or you are very beautiful, and so on, from your pot—then immediately mercy will come.

Do you understand what my advice is? This is my advice, my prescription. If you follow this prescription, you will be successful in your spiritual life, as well as material life (although a devotee has no material life—a devotee has only spiritual life).

Money must be used for service, not for enjoyment. You can go to Kolkata, Bombay, or Delhi, and spend 2 lakhs rupees for one night in a hotel, but you can also go to Paharganj and spend 100-200 rupees for one night. Simple living, high thinking—what is necessary for your life, that is sufficient for you.

Do not think or hope that you will get married and your son will look after you. He may not do that, then you will be hopeless. In another way, you may be upset that your brother is not looking after your parents, "He is my brother, so he must also look after them." Instead, you must think, "No, no, why should he look after them? I will do it." Always think in a good and proper way, do not think wrong.

If you follow me, you will be a great devotee, the only problem is that you must control your root. Do not follow your tongue, and always take prasad. You can take prasad even five times a day, no problem, but do not take anything except Krishna prasad. Do not eat outside food—soft drinks, snacks, fast food, and so on. If you do not control your tongue, the rest will not be under control too:

জিহ্বার লালসে যেই ইতি-উতি ধায় ।
শিশ্নোদরপরায়ণ সে কৃষ্ণ নাহি পায় ॥

jihvara lalase yei iti-uti dhaya
sisnodara-parayana se krsna nahi paya

"One who is subservient to the tongue and who thus goes here and there, devoted to the genitals and the belly, cannot attain Krishna."

Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Antya-lila, 6.227

Mahaprabhu told this to a young boy, and who was that young boy? Raghunath Das Goswami.

If you control your tongue—do not talk so much, do not gossip so much, do not eat so much—it will be good for you; and practise from the beginning of the day. There is a Bengali proverb উঠন্ত মুলো পত্তনে চেনা যায়, uthanta mulo pattane chena yaya: "morning shows the day." So, if you control all these things, it will be good for you. How is it possible to control?

প্রসাদ-সেবা করিতে হয়
সকল প্রপঞ্চ জয়

prasada-seva korite hoya,
sakala prapancha jaya

By honouring the Lord's prasadam I conquer over all worldly illusions.

'Suddha-bhakata' by Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur

If you do not control your tongue, your mind will be disturbed. Prasad seva: always take prasad, do not take what your tongue and your mind want. It is possible if you try to do it.

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