(13/13) Take Shelter in Hari-Katha

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Deities' Manifestation Anniversary festival, Siliguri, 1 May 2019, morning, part 13
Translated from Bengali

'The guru is the Lord Himself, i.e. visaya-vigraha (worshippable)? Does it mean that anyone can be passed as a guru imagining that he is a personification of God? Gurudev is the Lord Himself, i.e. visaya vigraha – this is not true. The guru is asraya-vigraha (his purpose is to give shelter, not to take worship). By taking shelter in him, one can get service to Lord Krishna. Krishna performs rasa-lila – He enjoys with the gopis, but the asraya-vigraha gurudev does not show enjoying pastimes.'

I know that you sometimes go to see 'rasa-lila'. I saw sign boards advertising 'astakaliya-lila' – who of you is going there to see it? I wrote about 'astakaliya-lila' in Guidance 3. Do not go to see such things. People also perform 'kunja-bhanga' – sis! This is service to Maya. When we go to Harihar (Hari-Hara Ksetra), we hear about the pastime of the Lord when He showed Sivji Maharaj His form of Mohini. When Lord Siva saw that form, he became crazy and jumped on Her. So, now South Indian people made a black-clad group that worships Ayyappa – they look like devils, and Srila Sridhar Maharaj actually called them 'devils'. They wear black clothes: black turbans, black shirts and black pants. I saw them when we went to South India. They say that when Krishna became Mohini, a girl, and Sivji Maharaj jumped on Her, a child appeared at that time. Nonsense. So, those people say that they are Siva's children. They cheat people.

A holy place of pilgrimage is where Hari-katha is being spoken. Who is our protector? 'The moment we lose our guardian, the enemies surrounding us will attack us. Our protector is Hari-katha from the mouths of real devotees.' If we can keep in our hearts the Hari-katha that sadhus speak, their Hari-katha will protect us. Remember this.

Sometimes, people wonder, 'If one sees stool and sandalwood as the same, earth and money as the same, a meat-eater and a brahman as the same, a prostitute and a chaste wife as the same, a jiva and Brahman as the same, the conscious and the unconscious as the same—does it mean they are a paramahamsa?' They are not – those who think like this are great sinners. They call Rama Krishna 'paramahamsa' — as the saying goes, 'Taka mati, mati taka (টাকা মাটি মাটি টাকা). Money has no value' (lit. 'Money is mud, mud is money'). Srila Prabhupad explains this very nicely.

Some people consider the soul to be God, so they promote service to 'Nara-Narayan' (to the human being as personalisation of God). No man can ever become Narayan, neither can Narayan ever become man.

Do you want to know the difference between a brahman and a Vaishnav?

'A Vaishnav is a devotee of Vishnu, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and a brahman is a devotee of nirguna Brahman (impersonal aspect of the Lord situated beyond the influence of the material modes of nature). The knower of the impersonal aspect of the Supreme Lord is called a brahman, and the knower of the personal aspect of the Lord is called a Vaishnav. If a brahman practises Krishna consciousness in the realisation of sambandha-jnana, he can become a Vaishnav—by the mercy of Vishnu, he can be saved from the hands of impersonalists and become an 'unadulterated brahman', or a Vaishnav. Sri jiva Goswami writes in his book Bhakti-sandarbha (177), referring to Sri Vyasadev's Garuda Purana, that one priest performing sacrifices is higher than a thousand ordinary brahmans, one person learned in the Vedas and all the other scriptures is higher than a thousand such priests, a Vaishnav is higher than millions of such learned experts, and just one devotee is higher than thousands of Vaishnavs. All Vaishnavs are brahmans, but brahmanism stands on the lowest steps of the ladder of Vaishnavism. Vaishnavs' qualities are much greater than the qualities of brahmans. A brahman is a servant of Vaishnavs: just as when a man has a lakh of rupees, he also has a thousand rupees, the same is true here too—if someone is a Vaishnav, they are automatically a brahman as well. The qualities of a brahman are included within the qualities of a Vaishnav.'

People like to say, 'Oh, you are a Vaishnav, but I am a brahman – I am big, and you are small.' It is not like that.

Who has the right, the qualification to chant the Holy Name? 'One can attain the qualification to chant the Holy Name by serving the devotees who engage in chanting the Holy Name. If we involve our senses in the external world, we will never be able to become servants of the Holy Name.'

What happens if we take advice from devotees? 'We can hear from devotees that if one serves Vishnu, then all services to every conscious and unconscious atom are fulfilled. Mahaprabhu said, "Sraddha is a firm, determined faith that by service to Krishna all actions are accomplished."'

Always remember these things.

How can you get out of this material life? By listening about God and by chanting God's Names and glories in the association of His devotees. Sravanam (listening about the Lord), kirtanam (chanting the Lord’s Name and glories), smaranam (remembering the Lord), archanam (worshipping the Lord’s Deity), vandanam (offering obeisances and prayers to the Lord), dasyam (serving the Lord as a servant), sakhyam (serving the Lord as a friend), atma-nivedanam (submitting yourself to the Lord), pada-sevanam (serving the Lord’s lotus feet) – always practise this, then you will get supreme benefit. Always keep yourself busily engaged in the service to the Lord, to your guru and Vaishnavs.

জীবে দয়া নামে রুচি বৈষ্ণব সেবা ।
ইহা বহি সনাতন নাহি আর ধর্ম্ম ॥

jive daya name ruchi vaisnava seva
iha bahi sanatana nahi ara dharma

‘Be merciful to the souls, chant the Holy Name happily and serve Vaishnavs. Sanatan, except for this, there is no other religion.’

We must show kindness to jiva souls – we must bring to this path the soul who have turned away from Lord Krishna.

জীবে দয়া নামে রুচি বৈষ্ণব সেবা ।
ইহা বহি সনাতন নাহি আর ধর্ম্ম ॥

jive daya name ruchi vaisnava seva
iha bahi sanatana nahi ara dharma

‘Be merciful to the souls, chant the Holy Name happily and serve Vaishnavs. Sanatan, except for this, there is no other religion.’

If we can do this, we can attain the supreme benefit – we can come to the Lord. Always remember this.

You fasted yesterday and only had some kitchuri in the morning, so you must be hungry now. Remember what I have told you and practise Krishna consciousness nicely. We must always practise God consciousness. Let us chant 'Bhaja bhakata' now.

Jay Srila Guru Maharaj ki jay.
Jay saparikara Sri Sri Guru Gauranga Gandharva Govindasundar jiu ki jay.
Tadiya prakata-tithi-bara maha-mahotsav ki jay.
Harinama-sankirtan ki jay.
Samagata Sri Gaura-bhakta-vrinda ki jay.

— : • : —

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Length: 78 min
Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Divine Fortune
2) Exclusive Sincerity of Gaudiya Vaishnavs
3) Heartfelt Service
4) Far and Near
5) Quenched Quest
6) 'I Am Coming'
7) Jagannath Manifesting Himself
8) No Deity Without Devotee
9) Come Forward
10) Know What to Know
11) Honest Enquiry
12) Open Book
13) Take Shelter in Hari-Katha