(6/11) Distraction Leads to Destruction

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Bhanjipur, preaching programme
12 November 2019, evening, part 6
Translated from Bengali

We have been to Kuruksetra recently (we visited Vrindavan first and then went by bus to Jaipur, Kuruksetra and Karauli), and when we were there, we visited Brahma Kunda (a pond created by Lord Brahma). When we spoke about the glories of Sri Brahma Kunda, we told that whenever there was a solar eclipse, which is considered an auspicious time, people would come to that pond to bath in order to obtain some piety (punya). In Dvapar-yuga, Krishna also came there one day. At that time, Krishna was already the king of Dvaraka, so He arrived there seated on an elephant, surrounded by His servants and soldiers and garbed in a royal attire.

In the meantime, Mother Yasoda and Nanda Maharaj had not seen Krishna for a very long time – they had spent many years shedding tears for Him, so much so that their tears formed a drain near their house... All Vraja gopis' hearts were seared and ablaze with separation. So, when they all heard that Krishna was coming to Kuruksetra, they thought, 'If only we could go there and see Krishna just once!' With this hope, they came to Kuruksetra. But when they arrived and saw Krishna, they were taken aback, 'This is not our Krishna! This is not our cowherd Krishna – He is not wearing His peacock feather, He is not playing His flute. Instead of His simple cowherd clothes, He is dressed as a king.' Unable to control their hearts, they started pulling Krishna back to Vrindavan, thinking, 'We do not want this Krishna! We must bring Him back to Vrindavan and turn Him back into a cowherd.' This is how Ratha-yatra started. They wanted to see that Krishna who herds cows along the banks of the Yamuna and who all the married young Vraja gopis run to see.

This is that Krishna who we must search for. This is that Krishna whose service world we should join. It is impossible to serve Krishna without serving Radharani.

রাধা-ভজনে যদি মতি নাহি ভেলা ।
কৃষ্ণ ভজন তব অকারণে গেলা ॥

radha-bhajane yadi mati nahi bhela
krsna-bhajana tava akarana gela

‘If you have not become devoted to the worship of Sri Radha, your worship of Krishna has been in vain.’

(Sri Gitavali, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

Srimati Radharani is the guru of divine love. Service must be selfless – devoid of any material or selfish desires. But how do we serve? What we do is trade rather than service, 'Gurudev, I am giving you this, and I want to get something in lieu of that.' We give ten rupees, a kilogram of rice and two potatoes to the Lord and say, 'O Lord, please look after my health, please do this, please do that.' We expect the Lord to arrange everything for us. This is not service – this is a business transaction with the Lord. Devotees never say such things, they never serve the Lord like this.

কৃষ্ণ যদি ছুটে ভক্তে ভুক্তি মুক্তি দিয়া ।
কভু ভক্তি না দেন রাখেন লুকাইয়া ॥

krsna yadi chhute bhakte bhukti mukti diya
kabhu prema-bhakti na dena rakhena lukaiya

‘If a devotee aspires for enjoyment or liberation, Krishna hides the knowledge about pure devotion and dismisses them, giving them enjoyment or liberation.’

If you ask the Lord for any enjoyment or liberation instead of devotion, the Lord will give you what you ask Him for and make you forget Him.

Suppose a man works as a school teacher. He is about to leave home to go to work when his small son comes to him and starts begging him to take him along. It is not possible to take him there, so his father gives him some toy or a chocolate and makes his son forget it. In the same way, the Lord gives us enjoyment and liberation – gives us cars, houses, money, and so on – and takes devotion away from us. This is how we lose devotion. Therefore, serve the Lord, your guru and Vaishnavs sincerely.

How long are you going to live? You have already gone through millions of births – you have lived for millions of years. Now you have got a human birth – even if you live for some meagre hundred years, you spend at least fifty–sixty years living in material family bondage thrashed by Maya left and right.

কয় বার এলি কয় বার গেলি
তবু তত্ত্ব না শিখিলি ।
নিজের মাথা নিজে খাইলি
এ দোষ দিবি কারে ভাই ?

kaya bara eli kaya bara geli
tabu tattva na sikhili
nijer matha nije khaili
e dosa dibe kare bhai?

‘Coming and going, coming and going, you never learnt anything! You have been eating your own brain – who will you blame for this, brother?’

Who will you blame for it? It is necessary to have faith!

'শ্রদ্ধা' শব্দে—বিস্বাস কহে সুদৃঢ় নিশ্চয় ।
কৃষ্ণে ভক্তি কৈলে সর্ব্বকর্ম্ম কৃত হয় ॥

‘sraddha’-sabde visvasa kahe sudrdha nischaya
krsne bhakti kaile sarva-karma krta haya

‘Sraddha is a firm, determined faith that by serving Krishna all actions are accomplished.’

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 2.22.62)

Your debt to your father, mother, rishis (sages), demigods – all debts are cleared if you serve the Lord. If you can become genuine disciples and serve the Lord, your guru and Vaishnavs, you will get supreme benefit.

Let us chant some kirtan now, after that I will continue. If you sit and listen for too long, you will become annoyed, so I will chant kirtan from time to time to give you a break.

Jay Srila Guru Maharaj ki jay.

[His Divine Grace starts chanting evening kirtans.]

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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