(4/6) Known and Knowable

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Jaipur, evening class,
4 November 2019, part 4
Translated from Bengali

So, coming here to Jaipur, you have today received the darshan of Lord Govindaji, the Deity served by Srila Rupa Goswami Prabhu. There is sambandha (knowledge of relationship), abhidheya (knowledge of the means) and prayojan (knowledge of the goal). Who is the Deity of sambandha? Lord Govindaji. Listen carefully to this. You have been listening to some guidance so far, and now I will tell you about the glory of this place. The last place we visited during the parikrama of Vrindavan was the temple of Govindaji. The original Deity from that temple is now here in Jaipur, it is the Deity that we have seen today by the mercy of Sri Gurupadpadma, Vaishnavs. You have also seen the Deity of Gopinathji who was served by Madhu Pandit. You have also seen His arati and taken some prasad. Not everybody has this kind of fortune.

Some of you who came with us in the bus did not get a seat, so you had to lie down on the bus's floor. I saw it, I notice everything. Despite that, you have still come and you have been able to offer your obeisances to Lord Govindaji and have the darshan of Lord Govindaji. On the other hand, there are also some who could not wait to get back to the bus. Guru Maharaj said that one of your legs can already be in Goloka Vrindavan, and the other leg can be outside: if you can bring your second leg to Goloka, then you will make it, but if you commit some offence and the leg that you had in Goloka is removed from there, then you will be in danger.

The Lord is not a doll. We must have firm determination and eagerness, 'How can I take part in the Lord's service? When will I be given this right? When will I be given the right to chant the glory of the Lord at the market of His Holy Names? When will I get the right to do some service? When will my guru, Vaishnavs and the Lord give me such a right?' Gurudev is the one who gives us the right to serve the Lord, so we must always hanker, 'When will Gurudev give me the right to do some service?' Such service is mercy. If you have no service, you have no mercy. Gurudev said that if you have service, you have mercy, and if you have no service, then you have no mercy. You keep saying, 'I want mercy', 'I want mercy', but what you should want is service! You have service right in front of you, but you do not do it, but you say that you want mercy.

I always tell this story. Somebody comes to gurudev and cries, 'Gurudev, please give me mercy! Please give me mercy!' Gurudev replies, 'Baba, I will give you mercy, but the place where you will keep it is either full of holes or is full of other things!' You invite gurudev to your home, 'Please come to my house,' but your rooms are full of sacks with rice, potato and dal – where will your guru sit? So, you come and cry, 'Please give me mercy! O Lord, please give me mercy! O Gurudev, please give me mercy!' but your hearts where gurudev will come to sit are full of other things: kanak (money), kamini (women), pratistha (name and fame), kama (lust), krodha (anger), lobha (greed), moha (illusion), mada (madness), matsarya (envy), rupa (eye-enjoyment), rasa (tongue-enjoyemnt), gandha (nose-enjoyment), sabda (ear-enjoyment), sparsa (tactile enjoyment). Where will you keep gurudev? First clear the space. You want to keep gurudev in your hearts, but first you must clear and clean the space there.

When Gurudev lived in Nabadwip, he would almost daily speak Hari-katha in the morning or in the evening, sometimes both. He would speak to foreign devotees in English or to the local devotees in Bengali. Many of my Bengali godbrothers never went to listen to his lectures. I asked them, 'Why do you not come to hear the class?' and they said, 'Oh, Maharaj is always saying the same thing. What is there to listen to? I already know what he will say.' I told them, 'He may be talking about the same thing, but he always speaks in different ways, explaining things in new ways. But you do not come to listen to what he says...' It is actually understandable why they never came to listen to him. Because if you pour water into a glass that is already full of water, then whatever you pour will only spill over. So, if somebody comes to give you good advice or good guidance, you say, 'Oh, I already know all these things. I already understand all this.' You are so clever now that if somebody tries to teach you anything, all the good advice will only spill over.

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Length: 39 min
Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Slaves of Lust
2) Consuming Callousness
3) Aversion to Service
4) Known and Knowable
5) Mahaprabhu's Exclusive Gift
6) Preach for the Math