(10/11) Settle in Mathura

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Bhanjipur, preaching programme
12 November 2019, evening, part 10
Translated from Bengali

Always keep association of sadhus.

সাধুসঙ্গ, নামকীর্ত্তন, ভাগবতশ্রবণ ।
মথুরাবাস, শ্রীমূর্ত্তির শ্রদ্ধায় সেবন ॥

sadhu-sanga, nama-kirtana, bhagavata-sravana
mathura-vasa, sri-murtira sraddhaya sevana

‘Associate with sadhus, chant the Holy Name of the Lord, listen to Srimad Bhagavatam, reside in Mathura and worship holy Deities with faith.’

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 2.22.124)

Living in Mathura does not mean that you must leave everything and move to Mathura. Mathura is wherever there is Hari-katha. Making a show of living in Mathura is not what living in Mathura is about. If you go to stay in Vrindavan and only pretend to be living there, this is not living in Vrindavan. When you stay in Vrindavan, you must serve your guru and Vaishnavs, then it will be 'living in Vrindavan'. Always live in sravan and kirtan. If you stay in Vrindavan for your own enjoyment, to fulfil your own desires, then it is much better to live in hell than to live in Vrindavan like that. Do you undersand it? Always remember this.

Always serve Deities with faith and engage yourselves in sadhu-sanga, Nama-sankirtana and Bhagavata-sravana. Associate with sadhus and chant the Holy Name all together.

Speak less. If you walk too much, your legs will start to pain and you will not be able to do even Tulasi parikrama, and if you talk too much, you will not like chanting the Holy Name because you have been talking all kinds of things the whole day, and when you try to chant the Holy Name, your tongue will not move. You should spend your energy on genuine things instead of wasting it on talking nonsense. When it is necessary, then say what is necessary. For example, when you go to the market, you have to say what you want to buy and how much you want to buy, you have to ask the price. But if you go to a tea stall and discuss political parties and what they did, these are unnecessary, empty talks. Who are they to you? Do you think that they feed you? As the saying goes, 'if you go to Lanka, you become Ravan' (ye yaya lankay, sei haya ravana; যে যায় লঙ্কায়, সেই হয় রাবণ – if you go to a crooked place, you become a crook). None of them will feed or dress you, none of them will they give you a single coin. It is a waste of time to sit and talk about them. You work till evening and come home only at ten because after work you have to go to the market (must be your local Narayanpur market – নারায়ণপুর হাটতলা), otherwise you will not be able to sleep. Instead of this, if you go home and chant some kirtan with karatals, chant some Holy Name, it will give you some spiritual benefit. Why are you wasting your time?

দিন যায় মিছা কাজে নিশা নিদ্রাবশে ।
নাহি ভাবি মরণ নিকটে আছে বসে ॥

dina yaya michha kaje nisa nidra-base
nahi bhavi marana nikate achhe base

‘My days pass in useless work and nights are wasted on sleep. It never occurs to me that death is there, waiting right next to me.’

(Sri Kalyan-Kalpataru, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

Does it ever occur to you that you can leave this world tomorrow? You come home late after work because you go to the marketplace and talk there with everybody about all kinds of material things – this is not good. 'Asat-sanga sada tyaga chhada anya gita-raga (অসৎ-সঙ্গ সদা ত্যাগ, ছাড় অন্য গীতরাগ). Give up bad association, do not listen to the material songs and music' (Srila Narottam Das Thakur). You must give up all such association. You think that if you leave their company, your friends will be unhappy, that they will stop liking you, but what is it to you? How long are these so-called friends and relatives going to be there? For how many days are they your friends? Will you be able to take them with you? When you die, they will throw your body away and go back to their homes. Nobody will stay with you.

Remember all these things. If it goes in one ear and out the other, it is pointless – you must keep these things in your hearts. If you listen to Hari-katha and it only goes in one ear and out of the other, what does it give you? Nothing. Try to remember what I have told you.

[His Divine Grace chant 'Emana durmati'.]

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Length: 75 min
Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Spend, Serve and Succeed
2) What Is What, Who Is Who
3) Shameless Servants
4) Material and Spiritual Desires
5) 'Kidnap Me'
6) Distraction Leads to Destruction
7) Lost and Found
8) Spiritual Sepsis
9) Eternal Parikrama Life
10) Settle in Mathura
11) Mahaprabhu's Advent