(4/10) Immerse Yourself in Service

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Hooghly District, preaching programme,
20 February 2019, evening, part 4
Translated from Bengali

We must think about the Lord. We must find time to remember the Lord! 'Kirtana prabhave smarana haibe (কীর্ত্তন-প্রভাবে স্মরণ হইবে). Chanting (kirtan) arouses remembrance (smaran).' You must practise kirtan. Not only one or two times a day. You must chant all the time.

শ্রীকৃষ্ণচৈতন্য প্রভু দয়া কর মোরে
তোমা বিনা কে দয়ালু জগৎ মাঝরে

sri krsna chaitanya prabhu daya kara more
toma bina ke dayalu jagat majhare

'O Sri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu! Please be merciful to me. Other than You, who is there to bestow mercy in this world?'

We must pray about this!

পতিত-পাবন-হেতু তব অবতার ।
মো-সম পতিত পরাবহু না পািইবে আর ॥

patita-pavana-hetu tava avatara
mo-sama patita prabhu na paibe ara

'You descended to save fallen souls. O Lord, You will not find another soul as fallen as I am.'

'You have come to this world to save fallen souls. I am very fallen – please rescue me, take me with You!' In this way you must always cry to the Lord. We must pray to the lotus feet of the Lord. Do you understand what I am saying? You must pray at the lotus feet of the Lord every single day and always be surrendered to the Lord's lotus feet.

Therefore, I am praying to you all that, no matter what obstacles or dangers, happiness or unhappiness comes in your life, do not forget the Lord and always chant the Lord's Holy Names. 'Sukhe duhkhe bhulo naka vadane Harinama kara re (সুখে দুঃখে ভুলো নাক, বদনে হরিনাম কর রে ). In happiness or sadness, never forget it, always chant the Holy Name.' You must not forget the Lord both in happiness and in unhappiness.

We must always take shelter in the Lord, think about the Lord, then we will get supreme benefit, then we will be able to know the Lord. Otherwise, we will not get anything – no matter what you do, it will all be useless. The people of this world cannot understand it. They enjoy and live happily, wasting their time.

কয় বার এলি কয় বার গেলি
তবু তত্ত্ব না শিখিলি ।
নিজের মাথা নিজে খাইলি
এ দোষ দিবি কারে ভাই ?

kaya bara eli kaya bara geli
tabu tattva na sikhili
nijer matha nije khaili
e-dosa dibe kare bhai?

'Coming and going, coming and going, and never learnt anything. You have been eating your own brain, who will you blame now, brother?'

Who will you blame for it? You are your own friend, and you are your own enemy. Our senses pull us in different directions – eyes (chaksu), nose (nasika), ears (kana), tongue (jihva), skin (tvak), mind (mana), intelligence (buddhi), ego (ahankara), rectum (payu), genitals (upastha). We have these ten senses that pull us in different directions. Apart from them, there are also another six enemies.

কাম-ক্রোধ আদি ছয় বাটপাড়ে দেয় ভয়
অবসান হৈল আসি বেলা

kama-krodha-adi chaya batapare deya bhaya
avasana haila asi bela

'I am attacked by the six highway robbers (lust, anger, etc.), and my life is coming to its end.'

(Gitavali, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

You must think about it! Never forget the Lord! Our Guru Maharaj and all our guru-varga try hard for your sake – they have made such nice arrangements for you all; but you forget them, you forget their mercy. You forget Lord Chaitanyadev.

শ্রীকৃষ্ণচৈতন্য-দয়া করহ বিচার ।
বিচার করিলে চিত্তে পাবে চমৎকার ॥

sri-krsna-chaitanya-daya karaha vichara
vichara karile chitte pabe chamatkara

'Just consider Sri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's mercy! If you do, you will feel astonished in your heart.'

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 1.8.15)

Therefore, you must always remember about Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and His teachings. Always keep yourself engaged and immersed in His service. Always think about Him. Always chant Nitai-Chaitanya's glories. Practise Krishna consciousness in this way, think about the Lord, offer bhoga to the Lord. You can serve and worship the Lord even living in this world or in your family. You can make your life Krishna-centred. You only need to realise that all things are meant for Krishna's enjoyment and that you are only His servant. 'I can only try to serve, and whether He accepts my service or not, He knows it. I will only try to serve Him.' Many of us have become Vaishnavs by adopting this kind of life and practice. But there is one thing that all of you should know: you cannot become a Vaishnav without service to Vaishnavs. Unless you serve Vaishnavs, you can never become a Vaishnav yourself. This is the most important thing. Srila Prabhupad Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur says that you can become a Vaishnav only by serving a Vaishnav.

Many people dress as gurus, but our Gurudev and Srila Prabhupad say that if you are to become a guru, you must first become a genuine disciple...

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Size: 29 Mb
Length: 60 min
Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Sadhus' Approach
2) Help Yourself and Others
3) Wasteful Living, Low Thinking
4) Immerse Yourself in Service
5) Clear-Cut and One-Pointed
6) Sincere Devotion
7) Hari-Kirtan Adhikar
8) Devotion to Gopis
9) Student Means Studying
10) Read and Learn