(14/16) Gift of Vision

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Uluberia, 23 April 2019, noon, part 14
Translated from Bengali

Srila Sridhar Maharaj gave a very nice explanation of the world of devotion. You can see here that many people are passing by on their motocycles – if you have ears (if you can hear), you will hear the sound of them passing. Because we have ears, we can hear sounds. But if somebody is deaf (cannot hear anything), we can speak loudly and chant the Holy Name, but nothing will enter their ears. This world is so beautiful – for example, there is such beautiful worship and festival of the Lord arranged here – but if somebody is blind, will they be able to appreciate this beauty? So, if you have ears, the world of sound exists to you; if you have eyes, the world of sight exists to you; in the same way, if you have devotion, then God exists to you. And if somebody has no devotion, for them there is no God.

When Mahaprabhu took sannyas, He went from Shantipur to Vrindavan, but on the way He changed His course and went to Puri Dham, visiting on the way the temple of Ksir-chor Gopinath and other places. Coming to the Atharnala bridge near Puri, Mahaprabhu suddenly remembered about His danda. Nityananda Prabhu had broken His danda and threw it away, but when Mahaprabhu asked Him where His danda was, Nityananda Prabhu lied, 'Prabhu, some time ago You were doing kirtan so intensely that You became overcome with divine ecstasy and fell on Your danda. It broke into three pieces.'

Based on that pastime, Srila Prabhupad reintroduced sannyas in this age. It is said in the scriptures that there is no sannyas in Kali-yuga, but Srila Prabhupad Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur started giving tridanda (triple-staff) sannyas. These three pieces represent service with your speech, mind and body.

So, when Nityananda Prabhu said that He had broken Mahaprabhu's danda, Mahaprabhu could understand the truth and became angry. 'You know why I have come to this world,' He told Nityananda Prabhu, 'You know everything, I cannot hide anything from You.' Not everybody can actually see this – only those who have the eyes can see it. If we think, 'Oh, I am coming to see the Deity,' or, 'Oh, I am going to see gurudev', 'I will know and understand the guru' – we can never know or see the Lord or the guru like his. If we think, 'I am coming to see the Deities,' we will only see an idol made of wood, stone, etc. – we will not see the Deity. In the same way, if we go to Jagannath Puri thinking, 'I want to see Lord Jagannath,' we will not be able to see Him – we will see other things. But if we feel, 'Lord Jagannath is the seer, He is the object of my service, and I am His servant,' and come in front of the Lord as a servant, then Lord Jagannath will reveal Himself to us. Otherwise, we will only see a wooden or a stone idol. It is the same with the guru. If the guru lets you know him, then you can know him.

ঈশ্বরের কৃপা-লেশ হয় ত' যাহারে ।
সেই ত' ঈশ্বর-তত্ত্ব জানিবারে পারে ॥

isvarera krpa-lesa haya ta' yahare
sei ta' isvara-tattva janibare pare

'The Lord can be known only by those who have got at least a drop of His mercy.'

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 2.6.83)

Only those who get the mercy of the guru can know him. Srila Krishna Das Kaviraj Goswami also writes about this in Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita.

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Length: 85 min
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