(5/15) Avoid Offences to Service

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Sri Nrisingha Palli, Sri Jagannath Misra Anandotsav
22 March 2019, morning class, part 5
Translated from Bengali

[A lady comes to say she is going back home] Where are you going? Where is your home? 'Kothay chhilam, hethay elam, kothay yabo bhavi nai (কোথায় ছিলাম, হেথায় এলাম, কোথায় যাব ভাবি নাই). Where was I? Where have I come? And where will I go after that? It never crosses my mind.' Take prasad before you go home. Take prasad at noon; otherwise, leave tomorrow – what is the problem? What will happen to you if you stay for one more day? You can stay for one day, then why cannot you stay for one more day? You can see there are so many sacks of potato and rice here, there is no lack of anything. It is not like if you leave tomorrow, we will have nothing to eat here. No.

At home, you must cook and offer bhog, then you can take prasad. Here, too, devotees cook, the pujari offers bhog, and you take that prasad. Always remember this. If you have any problem catching your bus or train, come back here. It is not a problem. This is your home!

When a girl gets married, she comes to her father's house from time to time; but when her parents die, her brothers usually pay no attention to her, so she stops visiting her parents' house. It is not like this here. Even my godbrothers and godsisters, who took initiation from my Gurudev, are always welcome to come and stay here. Both my brothers/sisters and my children can come and stay here. I have no objection.

The problem is that many people cannot help putting their desires and themselves first. I feel that such people are very unfortunate.

কৃষ্ণ ভুলি' সেই জীব অনাদি-বহির্ম্মুখ ।
অতএব মায়া তারে দেয় সংসারাদি-দুঃখ ॥

krsna bhuli' sei jiva anadi-bahirmukha
ataeva maya tare deya samsaradi-duhkha

'Forgetting Krishna, the soul turned towards the external illusory world in primaeval times. As the result, illusion (Maya) gives such a soul various material miseries.'

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 2.20.117)

Why do we suffer so much in this world? That is the question. Why are we suffering from the threefold material miseries? First, you must understand who you are. Who am I? I am not a human, not a god. I am a soul.

[Clamour] Why are you talking? I told you many times not to talk. If it is necessary to say something, then say it softly. You are in front of Deities. There are gurus and Vaishnavs present here. Speak softly if you have to. It is written in the calendars that there are thirty-two offences to service.

The first offence is to enter the house of the Lord on a vehicle or wearing shoes. The second offence is not to make festivals on the auspicious days of the Lord and devotees. For example, you have a temple, but you do not make festivals there because if you make a festival, people will come and you have to feed them (you have to cook, work hard, serve prasad to everybody). It is an offence to be like that. Number three. To stand and not offer obeisance in front of the Deity. Number four. Glorifying the Lord in an impure state of mind and body. You can chant the Holy Name, but I have told those who were going to take the second initiation that they could not take initiation or recite the gayatri mantras in the same clothes that they wore to take prasad, etc. (because, for example, when you are eating, something can fall on your clothes). It is necessary to wear clean clothes. Number five is to pay obeisances with one hand. You have seen people do this all the time. Number six. Strolling in front of the Deity. Number seven. Stretching your legs out in front of the Deity. I have seen yesterday a lady holding a grandchild and standing with her back to the Deity. This is an offence, a sin. Other offences are lying down, eating, telling lies, speaking loudly, speaking privately to another person, crying, quarrelling, harassing and treating another person partially in front of the Deity. Number eighteen is behaving with or speaking to common people in a cruel way. Common people do not understand things, and I have told my servitors also that even when somebody like that comes and, for example, touches a mridanga, they must not scold or chase them away – they must tell them nicely, 'Prabhu, this is the Lord's mridanga, so please do not touch it.' Another offence is criticising others, praising others, using harsh or foul words towards others or behaving with others in a nasty way. You can understand this yourself. One more offence is when you have money, so you have the capacity to offer arati to the Lord using ghee, but you are miserly and offer something inferior instead. If you have no money, that is another matter, but when you have the means and do not spend it for the Lord, then it is an offence. Srila Sridhar Maharaj explained also that such people will be born as mango trees on a hill and even crows will not come to eat their mangoes. If you read Srila Sridhar Maharaj's books, you can find this explained there.

Another offence is accepting unoffered things (eating unoffered food). If something is not offered to the Lord, you must not eat it. If you are travelling, you can buy some fruit, but even then you must take it remembering gurudev and the Lord. Unoffered food must not be taken. Another thing is that many cover themselves with a blanket or wear a jacket when offering puja to the Lord. This is not right. Another offence is not offering seasonal fruit, crops and products. For example, you do not like dhania (coriander) herb, so you do not offer it, but there is dhania herb growing in the garden now, so you should offer it, especially in winter when it is in season. Also, sem and eggplant are usually cooked in winter, so it is good to offer that. There are other things that can be cooked, but they may not be so good for the cold season. There are also seasonal fruits, and if you do not offer them, then it is also an offence. In other words, if you do not offer whatever food that can be taken, it is an offence. Next offence is when you keep something for the Lord, but before offering it to the Lord you give it to somebody else and then you offer it to the Lord. It is an offence to do that. You must understand these things.

Other offences are sitting with your back to the Deity and greeting others (except for your guru) in front of the Deity. We do not consider ourselves gurus, so we are not saying you must greet us – on the contrary, we always tell everyone to offer obeisances to the Deities instead. It is said in the scriptures that you can offer your obeisance to your guru even in the presence of the Lord, but a guru will never consider himself a guru – posing as a devotee, he will not let others do that. Mahaprabhu Himself did not say He was the Lord – He told everybody not to pay obeisance to Him in front of Deities. Another offence is to keep silence in front of gurudev: not offering him praise, etc. But when you are in front of your guru, you must listen to what gurudev says, so you should sit quietly and listen attentively. Praising yourself in front of gurudev. 'Gurudev, I have done this! I have done that! I have collected so much! I have collected so much money!' Do not blow your own horn in front of your guru. Even if you give a donation for gurudev through somebody, gurudev is omniscent, he knows everybody – it is not necessary to say anything. And the last, thirty-second, offence is criticising any gods in front of Deities. If you worship Lord Krishna, then all kinds of worship are automatically done, so it is not necessary to criticise or abuse any gods.

Always remember these things.

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Length: 108 min
Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Take Prasad
2) Stay Focused
3) Remember Your Service
4) Help Yourself and Others
5) Avoid Offences to Service
6) Avoid Offences to Holy Name
7) Avoid Offences to Vaishnavs
8) Avoid Offences to Holy Dham (Part 1)
9) Avoid Offences to Holy Dham (Part 2)
10) Avoid Kali's Places
11) Devotional Strictures
12) Devotional Strictures
13) Rejoice!
14) Outstanding Happening
15) Wholesome Vision