(5/8) Guru Is All-In-All

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Sri Radhastami, evening, Siliguri
6 September 2019, part 5
Translated from Bengali

Sri Nityananda Prabhu bestowed divine love for Lord Krishna even unto the fallen, sinful, suffering, poor, low, degraded souls and meat-eaters. In the same way, being non-different from Sri Nityananda, Sri Gurupadpadma encourages everyone down the path of eternal genuine supreme benefit by bestowing his causeless mercy to everyone around not considering whether one is qualified or not, whether one wanted it or not; and by giving everyone a chance to partake of the service rendered out of divine love for Sri Krishna.

প্রেমে মত্ত নিতয়ানন্দ কৃপাবতার ।
উত্তম, অধম, কিছু না করে বিচার ॥
যে আগে পড়য়ে, তারে করয়ে নিস্তার ।
অতএব নিস্তারিলা মো-হেন দুরাচার

preme matta nityananda krpa-avatara
uttama, adhama, kichhu na kare vichara
ye age padaye, tare karaye nistara
ataeva nistarila mo-hena durachara

'Intoxicated with ecstatic love, Nityananda is mercy incarnate. He does not distinguish between the good and the bad. Nityananda Prabhu does not judge who is good and who is bad: He saves anyone who falls before Him.'

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 1.5.208-209)

Nityananda Prabhu does not see who is qualified and who is not, who is higher and who is lower – He recues whoever falls before Him. He teaches others about the Lord, removes all kinds of unwanted elements, other desires and deceit from the hearts of the jiva souls and inspires everyone to serve to Krishna and kasna (Lord Krishna and His devotees). Thus, Sri Gurupadpadma engages everyone in service to Lord Krishna and to His devotees.

In Srimad Bhagavad-gita (4.34), Sri Krishna advises Arjuna to receive transcendental knowledge through service to the guru:

তদ্­বিদ্ধি প্রণিপাতেন পরিপ্রশ্নেন সেবয়া ।
উপদেক্ষ্যন্তি তে জ্ঞানং জ্ঞানিনস্তত্ত্বদর্শিনঃ ॥

tad viddhi pranipatena, pariprasnena sevaya
upadeksyanti te jnanam, jnaninas tattva-darsinah

'You will be able to attain knowledge by satisfying the divine master with submission, relevant inquiry, and sincere service. The enlightened souls who are learned in scriptural knowledge and endowed with direct realisation of the Supreme Absolute Truth will impart divine knowledge to you.'

(Srimad Bhagavad-gita, 4.34)

First is surrender. Do you remember the six limbs of surrender?

দৈন্য, আত্মনিবেদন, গোপ্তৃত্বে বরণ ।
'অবশ্য রক্ষিবে কৃষ্ণ'—বিশ্বাস পালন ॥
ভক্তি-অনুকূল মাত্র কার্য্যের স্বীকার ।
ভক্তি-প্রতিকূল ভব—বর্জ্জনাঙ্গীকার ॥
ষড়ঙ্গ শরণাগতি হইবে যাঁহার ।
তাঁহার প্রার্থনা শুনে শ্রীনন্দকুমার ॥

dainya, atma-nivedana, goptrtve varana
'avasya raksibe krsna'—visvasa palana
bhakti-anukula matra karyera svikara
bhakti-pratikula bhava—varjanangikara
sad-anga saranagati ha-ibe yanhara
tanhara prarthana sune sri-nanda-kumara

'(1) Humility, (2) self-submission, (3) accepting the Lord as your maintainer, (4) keeping faith that "Krishna will certainly protect me", (5) engaging only in what is favourable to devotion, (6) rejecting what is unfavourable to devotion. Lord Krishna hears the prayers of those who surrender in these six ways.'

(Saranagati, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

Dainya means humility, and atma-nivedana means surrender, giving yourself up. Vamandev told Bali Maharaj, 'You have given Me two steps of land, but where shall I make My third step?' Bali Maharaj pleaded, 'I do not have anything left – You have taken everything I had!' Then, Bali Maharaj's wife, Vindhyavali, whispered into his ear, 'You have given everything, but have you given yourself?' This is what surrender is. It is necessary to give yourself up at the holy feet of the Lord.

When Srila Prahlad Maharaj taught demons' children about the service to the Lord, among various devotional processes and practices, he gave special importance to the practice of service to the guru. Everybody knows that Prahlad Maharaj taught about different kinds of devotional practices. There are sixty-four kinds of devotional practices (limbs of devotion), five of them being main. He also spoke about the nava-vidha bhakti, nine kinds of devotion (archanam, vandanam, sakhyam, and so on). And here, he says:

guru-susrusaya bhaktya sarva-labdharpanena cha
sangena sadhu-bhaktanam isvararadhanena cha

'One must accept the bona fide spiritual master and render service unto him with great devotion and faith. Whatever one has in one’s possession should be offered to the spiritual master, and in the association of saintly persons and devotees one should worship the Lord.'

(Srimad Bhagavatam, 7.7.30)

It is necessary to learn from a guru. At the same time, to come to the Lord and to keep his promise (in other words, to fulfil his service to the Lord), Bali Maharaj had to reject his guru because his guru was giving him wrong advice. He told Bali Maharaj, 'Take your word back! You must protect your wealth, and sometimes to do that, you have to be diplomatic!' Bali Maharaj dismissed him, 'I will not listen to you! If I can give something to the Lord, who is better than Him? Where will I find a greater recipient of charity? If I can utilise my wealth in the service to the Lord, there is nothing greater than that.'

guru-susrusaya bhaktya sarva-labdharpanena cha
sangena sadhu-bhaktanam isvararadhanena cha

'One must accept the bona fide spiritual master and render service unto him with great devotion and faith. Whatever one has in one’s possession should be offered to the spiritual master, and in the association of saintly persons and devotees one should worship the Lord.'

(Srimad Bhagavatam, 7.7.30)

Through service to the guru, all kinds of low material desires of the jiva soul are destroyed; the souls get relief from aspiration for enjoyment, liberation, supernatural powers, etc., from all unwanted elements stemming from other desires – and, gradually, the spiritual soul attains and increases service to the Lord, developing taste for worshipping the Lord, and attachment to the Lord’s worship. For the practitioners of pure devotion who want to please the Lord, service to the guru is the highest and only duty.

Remember this.

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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?