(3/8) Soul's Estrangement

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Sri Radhastami, evening, Siliguri
6 September 2019, part 3
Translated from Bengali

[His Divine Grace reads from Guidance 4, chapter 'Glory and nature of Sri Sri Guru', commenting along the way.]

If we want to know gurudev, we must get his mercy. It is impossible to understand the nature of the guru by his outer worldly disguise. If a person has any connection with the material world left (if parents dote on their children, if a husband has mundane love for his wife, relatives, friends), such love is temporary, destructive and subsequently brings about misery and suffering.

People get fleeting and occasional joy or dream-like happiness from external pleasures through their minds and bodies consisting of five elements (earth, water, fire, air, ether). The body and mind are material faculties. Because there is a conscious soul within them, this body, senses and mind are believed to be as if conscious. The soul has an eternal relationship with the omnipotent and filled with eternity, knowledge, and bliss, Supreme Personality of Godhead. The true identity of the jiva soul is that it is an eternal servant, energy and particle of this omnipotent conscious form of Paramatma (Supersoul) or Bhagavan (Supreme Personality of Godhead).

Sri Gurupadpadma, an embodiment of the Lord's mercy, being compassionate to such jiva souls who have forgotten Krishna, gives them knowledge about their true identity, i.e. about their relationship with the Lord. When fortunate jiva souls get Gurudev's association, proximity, and guidance, they become detached from their illusory situation. Then, the soul leaves its body-consciousness, mind-consciousness, etc. and comes to live on the plane of soul. 'The Lord is the master – the jiva souls are His slaves, or servants, and it is the duty of the souls to serve the Lord' – Gurudev awakens this feeling within the hearts of the jiva souls who have forgotten their true identity.

I have told you about it many times:

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)

We forget the Lord, and as the result of this forgetfulness, we suffer from the threefold miseries of adhibhautik (আধিভৌতিক) (miseries caused by your own body or mind), adhyatmik (আধ্যাত্মিক, miseries caused by other souls) and adhidaivik (আধিদৈবিক, miseries caused by the nature or gods). Each soul's duty is to serve the Lord. In other words, every single jiva soul wants to serve the Lord, and we actually come to this world having promised to serve the Lord.

ভজিব বলিয়া এসে সংসার-ভিতরে ।
ভুলিয়া রহিলে তুমি অবিদ্যার ভরে ॥

bhajiba baliya ese samsara-bhitare
bhuliya rahile tumi avidyara bhare

'Forgetting that you came to this world saying, "I will serve You," you remained engulfed in ignorance.'

(Sri Gitavali, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

Having stayed for ten months and ten days in the wombs of our mothers, we promised the Lord to serve Him. We were staying in confinement, with our heads down and legs up, surrounded by filthy fluids and insects that are always biting us – we went through hellish suffering inside our mothers wombs. We cried and called out to the Lord. The Lord does not come to everybody, but those who are fortune can see the Lord. Come to such a fortunate soul, the Lord asks it:

'My child, why have you called Me?'

'I am suffering so much! Please let me get out here as soon as possible!'

'I will make so that you get out – I will give you eyes, ears, legs, hands, but will you use all these senses to serve Me? Will you see My Deities with your eyes? Will you speak about Me with your mouth? Will you listen about Me with your ears? Will you circumambulate My holy abode with your legs? Will you do My service with your hands?'

At that time, we promised to the Lord – we gave our word – that we will serve the Lord. 'Please let me get out of here, release me from this place! Grant me respite from this unbearable suffering! I will serve You.' Once we are born and come out of there, we forget everything. We enter this world and see that there is somebody who we call our father, mother, auntie, uncle. Landing on the lap of all these relatives, we spend our days – we go to school, study, grow up, increase our family, and so on. Eventually, the time comes and we have to leave this world. This is how we live, always coming and going.

When the soul becomes enlightened and realises its own true identity, then all sense of worldly duty towards one's parents, children, family and relatives, eases off. Carrying out your material duty towards your relatives is called varnasrama-dharma. Practising varnasrama-dharma does not bring satisfaction to the Supreme Lord. Gurudev gives guidance to surrendered souls on how to practise true religion to attain eternal peace and happiness of the soul. Another name of practising this true religion is Hari-tosana (satisfaction of the Lord, making the Lord happy). Satisfaction of the Lord is the only vow of gurudev. He himself at every moment strives to make the Lord happy and engages others in making the Lord happy – he is always engaged in the service of the Lord.

This is the symptom of a genuine guru. A genuine guru serves the Lord himself and engages others, especially his disciples, in the service of the Lord and His devotees.

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Length: 70 min
Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Auspicious Life – Auspicious Deeds
2) Mercy Is the Master Key
3) Soul's Estrangement
4) Guru's Potent Proximity
5) Guru Is All-In-All
6) 'Jay Gurudev!'
7) Great Things Come from Great Mercy
8) Where Will You Run?