(13/16) Devotees' Benevolent Kindness

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Uluberia, 23 April 2019, noon, part 13
Translated from Bengali

We feel sad when others are happy. For example, if somebody's daughter was married into a good family and has a good job at a high school, others will say, 'Oh, she does not do anything – she only sits at home and watches series on TV the whole day.' People are envious, that is why they say such things. They cannot tolerate it when others are doing good. And when something bad happens to another person, we clap our hands, 'Yes, very nice!' It is not good to be like that! Even if your enemy gets into trouble, you should be worried, you should try to think how to help them – how to bring them to the right path.

I have told you this example many times. Once, a scorpion was walking towards the Ganges, and at that time a sadhu was sitting on the bank of the Ganges, chanting the Holy Name. The sadhu noticed the scorpion and realised that if it had fallen into the Ganges, it would be carried away by the swift waters. So, the sadhu kept his beads aside and went to save the scorpion. He picked the scorpion up and kept it a little far from the water, on the shore. When the sadhu was carrying the scorpion, the scorpion stung him. If it happened to you, you would start fussing and trying to treat the sting, but the sadhu only smiled and took his beads to continue chanting the Holy Name. After a few minutes, he saw that the scorpion was again going toward the waters. What should one do? When you see somebody is going in a wrong direction, you must try again and again to bring them to the right path. This is what that sadhu did – he kept saving the scorpion although the scorpion kept going towards the water. Some man was passing by the place at that time and saw what was happening. He asked the sadhu, 'O sadhu, what is it to you? Why do you keep on saving this scorpion? What does it give you? What loss is it to you if this scorpion dies?' The sadhu explained to the man, 'Look, if this scorpion cannot change its character, why must I change my character?' It is the nature of a scorpion to behave bad, but my nature is to bring others to the right path.

There are people among us who like going everywhere and who do not have any regard for others. We must approach such people and tell them again and again, 'Sir, please come. What you are doing is wrong.'

If somebody criticises or abuses you, you must tolerate it. This is the advice of the scriptures. But if somebody criticises or abuses your guru-varga, you must explain things to them. You must not tolerate this. 'You are doing wrong, please do not do this', 'This is an offence to the Holy Name, please do not do this!' It is our duty to explain things to others in such cases. If somebody behaves bad towards us, we must be kind to them. When we see people who are averse to Lord Krishna, we must try to save them, we must try to bring to this path through the medium of the Holy Name – we must help them practise Krishna consciousness. If we can do this, then it will be our gain. Srila Prabhupad said that instead of opening millions of hospitals and curing millions of patients, it is million times more beneficial for you if you bring just one person averse to Krishna to this path. This is what is called 'Karitechchha upakara, yate para upakara labhe jiva sri-krsna-sevaya (করিতেছ উপকার, যাতে পর উপকার লভে জীব শ্রীকৃষ্ণ-সেবায়) – benevolent kindness is such that receiving it souls get the benefit of attaining service to Lord Krishna.'

'Prana achhe yara, sei hetu prachara (প্রাণ আছে যার সেই হেতু প্রচার). You have life in your body, therefore you must preach about the Lord.'

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Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Be Resolute
2) Pillars of Service Mood
3) Tongue's Attachment
4) Tread with Caution
5) Search for Reality
6) The Obstacle Is You
7) Bogus Love, Bogus Claims
8) Core of Devotional Life
9) Love Me, Love My Dog
10) Bad Days Turn Into Bad Life
11) Tottering Life
12) Control Your Mind
13) Devotees' Benevolent Kindness
14) Gift of Vision
15) Seal Your Heart from Maya
16) My Question to You