(2) Know Your Place

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Sri Ekachakra Dham, 5 April 2019, part 2
Translated from Bengali

One day, when Narad Muni was travelling, he came to Vrindavan. When he spoke to Vraja-gopis, they told him, 'We do not have time to hear about Krishna, we are too busy to hear about Him or to chant His Name.' Doing such things did not even enter their minds. But once these Vraja-gopis heard that Krishna had a headache (that He was showing a pastime of illness) and that He needed foot dust of His devotees but nobody was ready to give it, they at once said, 'Take our foot dust!' They gave no importance to chanting the Lord's glories, Names, qualities, and so on, but they gave importance to service, nothing else. Mother Yasoda was also like that. When she was boiling milk for Krishna and Krishna was restless to get it, she gave more importance to milk because she would make curd, butter and other things – for Gopal. So, she pushed Krishna aside and went to save milk from boiling over. She gave more importance to service.

Our predecessors – all the devotees of Mahaprabhu, our guru-varga (Srila Rupa Goswami, Srila Sanatan Goswami) – gave much importance to service. They emphasised service to the guru, to the Lord. They had to struggle a lot in their lives – they had to tolerate very cold winters in Vrindavan; but they taught us how to be kind to other souls, how to chant the Holy Name of the Lord and how to serve Vaishnavs (jive daya name ruchi vaisnava seva; জীবে দয়া নামে রুচি বৈষ্ণব সেবা). Srila Prabhupad said that if you live in a holy place, it is not same as residing in a holy place, just as if you go to Lord Jagannath, Gaura-Nitai or Radha-Krishna thinking, 'I will see Lord Jagannath (Gaura Nitai/Radha-Krishna),' that is not having the darshan of Lord Jagannath, Gaura-Nitai or Radha-Krishna – that is only sense gratification and service to Maya.

Residing in a holy place means living there not for your own sense gratification – it means you have to sacrifice and throw away your own desires and senses and only desire to make Lord Krishna happy, out of love for Him.

Some preach saying, 'Become a devotee of Krishna!' One time, a devotee from another Mission came to Our Param Guru Maharaj Om Vishnupad Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj to take sannyas. He asked Param Guru Maharaj for sannyas, but Param Guru Maharaj replied, 'You have already become a devotee of Krishna – first you must become a devotee of Radharani. You cannot take sannyas by just becoming a devotee of Krishna. You must become a devotee of Radharani and Mahaprabhu.' He explained to that devotee what service means. If you have faith in Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur and Lord Sri Krishna, then you must accept what they say. Lord Krishna says, 'Those who say that they are My devotees are no My devotees. My devotees are those who are devoted to My devotees.' Expressing this in English, our Gurudev often said, 'If you love me, love my dog. If you want to love me, you must first love my dog. This dog takes care of me and guards me – if you give nourishment to my dog, I will be happy.' So, before coming to serve God, we must serve His devotees. This is what we learned from our Gurudev, and this is our firm, exclusive line.

Do you understand this matter? You want to become a devotee of Krishna, but Krishna Himself says, 'Those who want to be My devotees are not My devotees.' If you have faith in Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur, then you must accept what he says:

রাধা-ভজনে যদি মতি নাহি ভেলা ।
কৃষ্ণ ভজন তব অকারণে গেলা ॥

radha-bhajane yadi mati nahi bhela
krsna-bhajana tava akarane gela

‘If you have not become devoted to the worship of Sri Radha, your worship of Krishna has been in vain.’

রাধাপদ বিনা কভু কৃষ্ণ নাহি মিলে ।
রাধার দাসীর কৃষ্ণ সর্ব্ব বেদে বলে ॥

radha-pada bina kabhu krsna nahi mile
radhara dasira krsna sarva vede bale

Without Radha’s holy feet, you can never come to Krishna. All Vedas say that Krishna is the property of Radha’s maidservants.

রাধিকা দাসী যদি হোয় অভিমান ।
শীঘ্রই মিলই তব গোকুল কান ॥

radhika dasi yadi hoya abhimana
sighrai milai taba gokula kana

'Those who pride themselves on being maidservants of Radhika will quickly come to meet Gokula-Kana Krishna.'

(Sri Gitavali, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

If you can become a maidservant of Srimati Radharani, then you can attain Lord Krishna's mercy – you can attain His wealth. His wealth means His mercy.

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