(4) Do Not Be Proud Zeros

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Kadigachha, Lord Siva's Temple inauguration,
5 March 2019, evening, part 4
Translated from Bengali

The Lord says, 'Among all numbers, I am one.' If you put a zero next to one, you get 10, 100, 1,000, 10,000, 100,000, and so on. But if you remove 1 from all these numbers, then 0 has no value. So, if you bypass the Lord, then no matter what you do, everything loses its value.

Always try to avoid offences.

অপরাধশূন্য হয়ে লহ কৃষ্ণ-নাম ।
অচিরাৎ পাবে তুমি কৃষ্ণ-প্রেম-ধন ॥

aparadha-sunya haye laha krsna-nama
achirat pabe tumi krsna-prema-dhana

'Chant the Holy Name of Krishna without offence and you will quickly get the treasure of divine love to Krishna.'

You must chant the Holy Name without offences. The people from this outside world sing so much that blood oozes from them, but they cannot understand anything. Many people proudly say, 'I chant 900,000 Holy Names!' but they have so much anger and other inauspicious qualities inside them. That is why I keep praying to you all the time – practise Krishna consciousness properly, avoid offences. This is how spiritual life must be practised.

There are many kinds rules, customs, prohibitions in this external world, but the Lord says, 'Leave everything. Leave all religions and surrender to Me.'

সর্ব্বধর্ম্মান্ পরিত্যজ্য মামেকং শরণং ব্রজ ।
অহং ত্বাং সর্ব্বপাপেভ্যো মোক্ষয়িষ্যামি মা শুচঃ ॥

sarva-dharman parityajya, mam ekam saranam vraja
aham tvam sarva-papebhyo, moksayisyami ma suchah

‘Give up all kinds of religion and surrender to Me alone. I will liberate you from all sins, do not despair.’

(Srimad Bhagavad-gita, 18.66)

I told you earlier today about Maya's game, about how she plays and how she removes us from the service of the Lord. We become servants and maidservants of Maya and live in this world worshipping illusion. Those who do not practise Krishna consciousness like to criticise Vaishnavs, but who actually does that? Those whose minds are not pure always search for faults in Vaishnavs. Those whose minds are not clean always look for others' faults. This is not our job. Vaishnavs must never see others' faults (they must be adosa-darasi). Always remember this, then you will get the supreme benefit.

There are many kirtaniyas (professional kirtan singers) in this world: aul, baul, kartabhaja, nera, darvesh, sakhibheki, jata-gosani, atibari, chudadhari, gauranga-nagari, sahajiya, saki, smarta. There are all these bogus sampradays, there are also many mayavadi sampradayas scattered all over the world. They teach people wrong things, taking them down a wrong path.

পৃথিবীতে যত কথা ধর্ম্মনামে-চলে ।
ভাগবত কহে সব পরিপূর্ণ ছলে ॥

prthivite yata katha dharma-name-chale
bhagavata kahe taha paripurna chhale

’Bhagavatam says that whatever is going on in this world in the name of religion is complete cheating.’

(Based on Srimad Bhagavatam, 1.1.2)

Read books that are talking about the pure teachings of Bhagavatam. We have three volumes of Upadesh books – get these books and read them at home. Read them and you will see that it will give you benefit. You can learn many very nice things. There are many very nice stories written in them. There are so many things one can do for the service to the Lord – you can see how Vraja gopis served the Lord. What did they not do for the Lord! They left all their shyness, shame, fear and ran behind Krishna.

You have heard that when Krishna was in Dvaraka, one day He decided to test His devotee. You can find this story in the book called The Loving Search; you all know this story. The Lord tests everybody from time time. So, one time, Krishna told His minister Uddhav Maharaj, 'Uddhav, you know how dear you are to Me. Even Brahma is not as dear to Me as you are. Even Siva is not as dear to Me as you are. Even I Myself am not as dear to Me as you are.' After that, where did Krishna send this Uddhav Maharaj? To Vrindavan. He told Uddhav, 'Wear My clothes and go there.' Hearing all this, Uddhav Maharaj got a little proud, thinking, 'Oh, I am so dear to Krishna!' So, he went to Vrindavan to comfort Nanda Maharaj and Mother Yasoda. When he entered Vrindavan, the gopis were walking down the street with pots on their heads – they were going to the market to sell butter and other produce. Suddenly, they heard some rumours that Krishna had come back! They ran to see Him, but when they saw Uddhav, they realised, 'Oh, this is not Krishna. He looks like Krishna, but he is not Krishna.' Their hearts sank, and they turned to walk away, but Uddhav called them, 'Why are you leaving? I may not be Krishna, but I am very close to Him. You know, these clothes I am wearing are His.' Hearing this, the gopis started pressing his clothes to their faces and chests. Then, Uddhav said, 'Oh, do you miss Krishna?'

'Why are you saying this?' they asked.

'Well, Krishna always talks about you all. He may be staying in Mathura now, but He only keeps talking about gopis, gopis, gopis. Whether He is eating, lying down, sitting or sleeping, all He knows is calling out to His gopis.'

'Oh really?'

'So, do you not want to see Krishna?'

'How can we see Him?'

'Close your eyes and meditate on Him, then you will see Him,' Uddhav Maharaj said, innocently.

'O Uddhav, Sir, have you lost your mind? Your Master has gone mad, and it seems that you have gone mad as well! Wherever we glance, we do not see any trees, plants or buildings, we do not see Vrindavan's jungle – all we see is Him. We do not want Him, we want to forget Him, but we cannot!'

Hearing this, Uddhav cried. There is a place in Vrindavan where this happened...

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