(8/9) Esoteric Sacrality of Sannyas

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Sri Vyasa Puja Day, Tarakeswar, evening class
29 September 2019, part 8
Translated from Bengali

Many people feel sad, 'Oh, the Lord has not given me money... I wish I had money...' Even if you have money, you should utilise it in the service of the Lord. If you do not do it, you will just be a miser.

You have never been able to give your body, mind, heart, intelligence, wealth, etc., but you say lip-deep, 'I am going to Vaikuntha!' You cannot deceive or trick the Lord. If you cannot give anything to the Lord, what Vaikuntha will you go to? It is necessary to give your mind, your heart and your soul to the lotus feet of the Lord. You cannot serve the Lord just by donating some money. If you are to serve the Lord, you must serve with your mind, heart and soul. If you can do that – if you can serve the Lord with all your faculties and facilities – then you must come to the Lord. It is certain.

The devotees who take sannyas live under Srimati Radharani. They are gopis, maids, female members of Krishna's family, and they live working in His household. Remember this. All of you, devotees, are members of Krishna's family, and you are serving and working under Srimati Radharani.

Those who desire to renounce everything, including service to Krishna, will attain Brahmaloka (impersonal liberation, or merging into the impersonal aspect of the Supreme Lord). Scared of service to the Lord, you think, 'I want to go away and live in a cave or in a jungle.' This is not right. We have come to this world to become maidservants of Lord Krishna's family.

We must learn how to serve Krishna from Sri Radha Thakurani. Similarly, when we come to Sri Nityananda Thakur, we must become servants in Sri Gaurasundar's family. Sannyas devoid of service leads either to a void or to self-gratification: by such sannyas you can attain liberation or enjoyment. On the other hand, devotee sannyasis are actually exemplary householders because they live as householders in Krishna's family. They live in Krishna's family and are busy 'cooking' (creating) Krishna's pleasure (bhoga). Dry renunciates and liberation seekers end up going to Brahmaloka, but devotees never face such a fate.

When you create Krishna's family, it must be a family of devotee sannyasis. To become eligible to enter this family, one is to take up the life of sannyas. This is how we must engage ourselves in the service of the Lord. Devotee sannyasis live as maidservants under Sri Radha Thakurani – except for this ego, there can be no other ego in this world. Those who do not have this ego cannot enter the kingdom of devotion. It is necessary to have the ego of a devotee.

রাধিকা দাসী যদি হোয় অভিমান ।
শীঘ্রই মিলই তব গোকুল কান ॥

radhika-dasi yadi haya abhimana
sighrai milai taba gokula kana

'Those who pride themselves on being maidservants of Radhika will quickly come to meet Gokula Kan (Krishna).'

(Sri Gitavali, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

Thus, if you have no submission to Srimati Radharani (that is, if you have no submission to Sri Gurudev), it means that you have not been able to understand your guru. You pay obeisance to your guru, you give him some donation, you can see his external appearance, but you cannot understand who he actually is (you cannot see his actual form). If you do not understand who your guru is, then you are foolish and senseless and you have not actually had the darshan of your guru, and whatever you see is all wrong.

Sri Guru is a devotee who serves Sri Sri Guru Gauranga with all his being, with all his faculties and facilities. Sri Guru effects pleasure for the Lord. He does the main, most important service to Lord Krishna, he is a servitor of the Lord, and he is spiritually very clever. It is very hard to know or recognise him.

You can write articles about God, you can give lectures about God, but if you have not listened about the guru – if you come to a guru and only see Maya, if you have not had your guru's association – it means that you have not entered the domain of devotion.

In devotion, there is no question of renunciation or enjoyment – the only thing that matters is Krishna's enjoyment. Mayavadi sannyasis do not open temples to serve the Lord. They are yet to learn that one must become a householder in Krishna's family. Therefore, they have not been able to enter Krishna's family. Even if they attain perfection in their practices, they will attain Brahmaloka and reach impersonal liberation at best. But Krishna's Vrindavan is full of divine love (premavan) and service (sevavan). Only those who are surcharged with divine love and divine service mood can enter there, nobody else. Only practitioners of devotion can become family members in Krishna's household. If you want your soul to attain true joy, you must live for Krishna's joy. Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur wrote, 'Vaikuntha syama grhasta-jana kula palaka. (বৈকুণ্ঠ শ্যাম গৃহস্থজন কুল পালক). The householders living in the transcendental home of Shyama Krishna are the guardians of the family.'

You do not take up the danda (the stuff of a mendicant monk, sannyasi) to become a renounced person. 'I am not a renunciate, I am not a sannyasi, I am not anything. I am only a servant of the Lord.' This is the ego we must all have. Always remember this.

The Lord is the self-effulgent crest jewel. He is not impersonal Brahman; rather, He is the enjoyer of everything in this world. Until and unless we attain pure mercy of genuine devotees, we cannot know who the Lord actually is. Remember this.

If you can live as householders in Krishna's family, you will get devotion. It means that you must take care of everything and make sure everything is kept nicely and beautifully. When there is a festival, it is necessary to clean and keep all the dishes nicely, to take care of everything and keep everything clean and neat. Even when we cannot stay here, we can keep everything neatly and nicely and go away, the Lord will be pleased with us...

Devotees embrace renunciation from Maya's family in order to practise living in Krishna's family. It is necessary to have attachment and affection for Krishna's family, then renunciation will come of its own accord. This is the nature of true loving servants and maidservants of Krishna's family. Krishna keeps His devotees near Him by giving them service; and if He wants to keep somebody far away from Himself, He does not give them service. Those who have not got the mercy of Krishna's devotees do not understand what devotion is. By the mercy of Bhakti Devi, we can understand this kind of household life through loving attachment. When the Lord sees that His devotees are completely immersed in the service at His household, He lovingly takes them on His lap and showers them with affection. This is the acme of perfection in devotional life. Always remember this.

Jay Srila Guru Maharaj ki jay.

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Size: 21 Mb
Length: 43 min
Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Relentless Pursuit
2) Master's Ego vs Servant's Ego
3) Servitor's Ambition
4) Do Not Waste Time
5) 'I Am Sold to You'
6) Kirtan: Devotees' Heartbeat
7) Loving Search
8) Esoteric Sacrality of Sannyas
9) No Shortcuts