(21/22) Origin of Hinduism

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Bolpur, noon, 20 January 2019, part 21
Translated from Bengali

Mayavadis say that the soul exists in Brahman, that when the body dies, everything finishes because there is no soul, etc. Rabi Tagore and many other prominent scholars were of such faith.

I once gave a book to some man, and that man came later to me and said, 'I have a triple M.A.!' He had an M.A. in Bengali, Sanskrit and some other field. He spoke very highly of Rabindranath Tagore, and I told him that Rabi Tagore wrote one good thing, 'I am bowing at Your holy feet and begging You for a drop of that sort of wealth having got which a jewel loses all its value (যে ধনে হইয়া ধনী মণিরে মান না মণি তাহারি খানিক মাগি আমি নতশিরে).' On the one hand, he says that God has no form, but then he says, 'I am praying to place Your holy feet on my head.' How can that be? If God had no form, how could He have feet then? If God has feet, He must have head and all other parts of body. It is necessary to believe that God is not formless, that God does have a form. In that sense, mayavadis are even worse than sahajiyas because sahajiyas at least believe that Krishna has a form, but mayavadis are outright atheistic. Devotees can perceive the Lord directly, but those who are not so intelligent (who follow the path of knowledge, etc.) worship God as formless Brahman. When Mahaprabhu was told about jnana-misra bhakti, He rejected it, 'It is superficial, go further.'

Devotee: I asked those questions to know better.

It is good! I am only happy. I have told you that I do not mind it at all if you ask questions.

Question: Who founded Hinduism?

We do not preach Hinduism. We are not Hindus. Actually, we are not brahmans, ksatriyas, Hindus, vaisya, sudra or anything else. All these designations are created under the influence of time. Our religion is jaiva-dharma, the religion of the soul. Every single soul has a religion: every single soul is an eternal servant of Lord Krishna and is meant to serve Krishna eternally. We are not Hindus, Christians, Muslim or Buddhists. We neither believe in such differentiation, nor do we preach any Hinduism. I do not even know who is the founder of Hinduism (I do not know who it comes from). We are not Hindus, Christians, Buddhists, brahmans, ksatriyas, kings, maharajs, sannyasis or brahmacharis – we are only servants of the servants of the servants of Lord Krishna. This is our identity. Because people forget their identity, they create various religions and movements. We are not preachers of Hinduism – the BJP party are the ones who preach Hinduism. You can ask them about the origin of Hinduism.

We preach jaiva-dharma. Every living entity has a religion, or natural purpose in life – for example, a tree has a religion, a bug has a religion, a goat has a religion; the religion of every living entity is service to the Lord. They all forget about it and do not have sufficient power of consciousness to remember it. For example, if you put a garland from the Lord's neck on a cow's neck, the cow will eat it – it does not understand its value. When they kill chickens, they kill one chicken, and another one will be standing nearby and eating – it does not realise, 'I am going to be next.' The power of their consciousness is weak. There are also living entities whose consciousness is completely covered. If somebody peels your skin off, you will bleed and cry; but if you cut a tree's bark (many people say that, for example, Arjuna tree juice helps reduce heart diseases), the tree also cries, but because its consciousness is completely covered, we cannot hear it. If you hit a dog, it does not whine or bark – it is actually calling out to its father and mother.

In whichever species one is born, when one is in distress, everyone first calls out to their fathers and mothers because we have forgotten the Lord due to material bondage. If you punch somebody in the stomach, they will always cry, 'O Ma!' Nobody says, 'Hare Krishna!' Only if you always chant the Holy Name can you take Krishna's Name at all times. It is necessary to practise and practise, then Krishna's Name will come to your mouth. Always remember this.

So, as I have said, we do not preach Hinduism or any other religion – we preach the religion of the soul (jaiva-dharma). This religion is to serve the Lord. Knowing Him, everything is known. First understand who you are, then you will understand everything.

— : • : —

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

CLICK TO LISTEN TO THE LECTURE

Size: 83.1 Mb
Length: 168 min
Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Course of Life
2) Special Arrangement for Kali-Yuga
3) Beyond Religious Bigotry
4) Innermost Desires
5) Fortune, Faith and Frauds
6) Think about Your Real Self
7) Come to Krishna's Family
8) Seek Out Eternal Shelter
9) Proper Surrender
10) Misdirected Worship
11) Deepest Faith
12) Beyond Illusory World
13) Turn Home
14) Gross and Subtle Cheating
15) Watch for Milestones
16) Come Home with Me
17) All That Glitters Is Not Gold
18) Do Not Cheat Yourself
19) Soul's Plight
20) Eternal Transformations
21) Origin of Hinduism
22) Pig's Life, God's Life, Devotee's Life