(2) Where Does Your Submission Lie?

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Preaching programme in Hooghly district,
1 March 2019, evening, part 2
Translated from Bengali

Maya Devi turns us into her servants and maidservants and keeps us busy with her service. She does not let us serve the Lord. Such is her play. How is it possible to leave Maya?

মায়ারে করিয়া জয় ছাড়ান না যায় ।
সাধুকৃপা বিনা আর না দেখি উপায় ॥

mayare kariya jaya chhadana na yaya
sadhu-krpa bina ara na dekhi upaya

‘It is impossible to conquer illusory environment and break free from it. I see no other way to get relief except by sadhus’ mercy.’

(Prarthana, Srila Narottam Das Thakur)

If you want to overcome Maya, you need the mercy of sadhus and gurus; otherwise, you will never get relief from her. Therefore, we must come to sadhus, gurus and Vaishnavs and serve them. 'Serve them' does not mean living with them and massaging their feet, eating from the same plate as they, sleeping with them on the same bed. Association with a sadhu means listening to what the sadhu says and following his word. Srila Prabhupad said that a sadhu is not somebody who has long hair or dreadlocks and a long beard.

“গোরার আমি, গোরার আমি” মুখে বলিলে নাহি চলে ।
গোরার আচার, গোরার বিচার লইলে ফল ফলে ॥

‘gorara ami, gorara ami’ mukhe balile nahi chale
gorara achara, gorara vichara laile phala phale

‘Just saying, “I am Gora’s! I am Gora’s!” will not do. Only when you follow Gora’s practice and Gora’s conception will you get the proper result.’

লোক দেখান গোরা ভজা তিলক মাত্র ধরি ।
গোপনেতে অত্যাচার গোরা ধরে চুরি ॥

loka dekhana gora bhaja tilaka matra dhari’
gopanete atyachara gora dhare churi

‘You put on tilaks and show the whole world that you serve Gora, but secretly you do outrageous things. Gora will catch you out, thief (hypocrite)!’

(Sri Sri Prema-vivarta, 8.6–7, Sri Jagadananda Pandit)

You must always keep yourselves within the shelter of spiritual life. How should you practise Krishna consciousness? How can you come to the Lord? What should you do to get rid of all the unwanted elements within you?

It is not so easy for unwanted tendencies within us to go away. How to get rid of them? It is said that we must chant the Holy Name loudly. Chanting the Holy Name leads to the cessation of all unwanted tendencies. However, there is another point here. I have told you about it before. It is not possible to chant the Holy Name of Lord Krishna purely if you are covered with such unwanted tendencies, but in such a state you can chant the Holy Names of Gaura and Nitai. As you keep chanting Their Names, all unwanted tendencies in our hearts will be removed – then we can get taste for chanting the Holy Name of Lord Krishna. We must always remember this. I am praying to you all that you may never forget this.

We must always practise Krishna consciousness living in submissive adherence to the Lord, our guru and Vaishnavs. This is our main life. We must never forget this. You must understand very well that you are souls, you are not these bodies.

We live in Kali-yuga. This is not Satya-yuga when people practised meditation, or Treta-yuga when people made fire sacrifices, or Dvapar-yuga when people practised Deity worship. This is Kali-yuga – the religion of this age is Harinama-sankirtan (congregational chanting of the Holy Name of the Lord). In this world, many people worship demigods (Kali, Durga, Laksmi, Ganesh), but do you think you can worship all 330,000,000 gods? Nobody can. What is the solution then?

'শ্রদ্ধা' শব্দে—বিস্বাস কহে সুদৃঢ় নিশ্চয় ।
কৃষ্ণে ভক্তি কৈলে সর্ব্বকর্ম্ম কৃত হয় ॥

‘sraddha’-sabde visvasa kahe sudrdha nischaya
krsne bhakti kaile sarva-karma krta haya

‘Sraddha is a firm, determined faith that by serving Krishna all actions are accomplished.’

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 2.22.62)

Your debt to your father, mother, rishis (sages), demigods – all kinds of debt are cleared if you serve Supreme Lord Krishna. Always remember this. If you become a devotee of Lord Krishna and live serving Him, you do not have to worry about any other activities – all other activities and duties are automatically fulfilled.

— : • : —

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